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Punctuality | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| krog Diglot Senior Member Austria Joined 6049 days ago 146 posts - 152 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Latin | Message 1 of 24 27 February 2009 at 2:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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What does punctuality mean to you?
I was supposed to meet my girlfriend's mother at 6 o'clock yesterday, and when I managed to get there at 6.05 I felt quite pleased with myself. However, my girlfriend's mother was not pleased with me. I got the feeling I'd have been better off turning up ten minutes early. When I did the OU German summer school (in Jena), we went to a lecture given on our behalf at the university. One of the OU organisers (who I think was Austrian) admonished us that 8.00 in Germany means 8.00 (but that maybe in Austria you could get away with 8.10...). I saw a documentary recently about the relationship between Cuba and the DDR, and one of the guest workers from that island who featured in the programme lamented that, contrary to a more relaxed attitude to punctuality in the Caribbean, he found out to his cost when he turned up late for a rendez-vous with a German lady, that being half an hour late in Germany means that you leave without your date. On the evening side of the North Sea, if I were to arrange to go to pub with my friends in Norfolk, 8.00 would probably end up meaning 8.30. I can't help but feel that theoretically the German attitude is better, but as someone who was born running ten minutes late, it's not a standard I look forward to living up to. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6909 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 24 27 February 2009 at 4:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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I do my best to show up "in time", give or take five minutes, depending on where I'm going. Work, meetings, music rehearsals, class et.c. obviously means starting "sharp", and that I'll show up 5-10 minutes prior to that, to get mentally prepared/tune the instrument/change clothes/et.c.
Something called academic quarter is used by some universities. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Amoore Senior Member Denmark Joined 5770 days ago 177 posts - 218 votes Speaks: Danish* | Message 3 of 24 27 February 2009 at 6:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you are respectful towards the people you have an appointment with, teachers, your
mother in law, boss, and you are serious about what you are going to do, you show up at least 5 min. before, prepared and ready, on your seat if it is in a classroom. Showing up late on purpose is rude and very disrespectful towards everybody else waiting. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6439 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 4 of 24 27 February 2009 at 7:05pm | IP Logged | ||
This is very, very regional. If I started showing up 'on time' in Southern Italy, I'd spend a lot of time waiting - people being 2 hours late is far from unheard of, though 45 minutes is more common (for social gatherings; for classrooms, the numbers aren't that extreme). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6034 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 5 of 24 27 February 2009 at 7:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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I can't turn up in split second even if my life depends on it; +/-10 minutes is the norm.
There are exceptions, though. My personal record is a 45 minutes delay, caused by a spontaneous decision to walk instead of catching the bus. Needles to say, it was a friend who was waiting me. In the end, you just smile a lot and everything is Ok. It's not disrespectful if you simile ;Pp. I've always assumed German punctuality is a myth. It sounds almost surreal. Edited by Sennin on 27 February 2009 at 7:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Aquedita Triglot Senior Member Poland myspace.com/aqueda_v Joined 6014 days ago 154 posts - 164 votes Speaks: Polish*, English, Japanese Studies: Mandarin | Message 6 of 24 27 February 2009 at 7:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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I find it hard to show up exactly on time, don't really know why :P
When I meet up with my mates - we stick to the "academic quarter" rule. When I meet with my good friends - it's up to even half an hour. But when I make plans with Japanese - I ALWAYS do my best to arrive beforehand. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6909 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 24 27 February 2009 at 7:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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Some of the blogs I read bring up regional/cultural differences, e.g. being late, cancelling 30 minutes prior to the meeting/party/et.c., not showing up at all (without notice)...
Somewhere I heard/read about somebody (in Mexico) who showed up for a meeting at 9 AM, found out that it started 30 minutes late, and that it went a whole hour beyond the scheduled ending time. I've played in bands with people who rarely showed up on time, rather half an hour later (even up to one hour). Sometimes we gave them an earlier starting time, since they would probably be 30 minutes late anyway. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Dark_Sunshine Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5765 days ago 340 posts - 357 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 8 of 24 28 February 2009 at 2:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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Germans are notoriously strict about punctuality- although I'm not sure how deserved this stereotype is. I used to have a German girlfriend and many German friends when I visited the country regularly, and they all seemed reasonably laid back when it came to meeting up socially (I am personally always late, though never deliberately). That said- I've never actually worked in the country so I suspect it might be a different matter if I turned up late for work.
I've heard- from a friend who spent a summer working in Greece, that if you arrange to meet a Greek person socially the following day, it's perfectly normal for them to not turn up at all, and that they would be surprised if they had caused any offence/inconvenience by not showing up. But I'd be interested to know how true this is. I think Brits are reasonably relaxed- on the condition that you telephone the person you are meeting to let them know you'll be late. Anything up to 10 minutes is not really late in my view. After 20 mins I start to get annoyed, but it's usually me who is late so I would increase the intensity of my apologies after this time, or make sure I had a good excuse! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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