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As the internet has increased global interactions, interest in the etiquette and courtesy of different cultures has increased. A recent study showed that etiquette-oriented searches increased by 95% in one year, with more than 73 thousand pieces of content produced on TikTok alone.

TURKEY - The increase in cross-cultural interaction through the internet and social media channels has led to an increase in interest in the courtesy and etiquette of different cultures. While current data shows that the search for "How can I have good manners?" in English has increased by 95% in the last year, it was seen that the content produced with the phrase #etiquette, which extends to the British royal family, exceeded 73 thousand on TikTok. Bringing together more than 50 thousand native-speaking foreign language teachers with those who want to learn a foreign language from all over the world, English tutoring platform Preply has added a new one to its language and culture-oriented researches. Preply, with its etiquette and courtesy rules research, investigated how etiquette rules differ in Turkey and 27 European countries.

Europe converges on courtesy rules

A survey of more than 1,600 respondents from 27 European countries, focusing on common or lesser known etiquette rules, showed that people living in European countries generally share a common understanding of etiquette. One of the most common and striking findings of the research was the result showing that in 24 out of 27 countries, the participants entered the house where they were guests by taking off their shoes. While 89 per cent of the respondents interpreted taking off one's shoes when entering the house as a sign of respect for the host and the house, it was also observed that this rule is not strictly applied in hot countries such as Spain, Italy and Portugal. 

The research also revealed findings on gift-giving etiquette and the gift-giving culture in European countries. Emphasising that bringing house gifts is passed down from generation to generation and is widely accepted as a rule of etiquette, this result showed that the vast majority of European countries consider it an example of courtesy to bring gifts to friends who move to a new house, while 9 countries think that gifting should be left to special occasions. Respondents from Finland, on the other hand, expressed no interest in bringing a housewarming gift. 

"Kissing" is the source of hesitation in greetings 

The study also showed that kissing on both cheeks, which is a common greeting especially in European culture and stands out as one of the most widely used greetings among different types of greetings, is a form of greeting that Europeans are mostly hesitant about. 85 per cent of the 1,600 respondents said that they were not willing to take action to kiss the other person during a greeting or encounter unless the other person took the initiative. Kissing the other person during greetings was found to be particularly uncommon in Estonian, Danish, Swedish and Slovenian cultures. The study, in which the authors noted that different greeting styles in language are reflected in body language and supported this finding with examples from different countries such as Thai greetings and Indian greetings, also reminded that the hesitation of the practice of kissing while greeting in Europe may be one of the lasting effects of the pandemic.  

The study added a new one to its language and culture-oriented research

Preply's European etiquette and courtesy survey, which brings together qualified native-speaking foreign language teachers in many languages such as online English courses on a single platform, also showed that respondents in Turkey and Greece in particular think that arriving at a meeting at the scheduled time is the best option. On the other hand, 82 per cent of the respondents from all countries, including Turkey, considered it a sign of respect for the host to finish all the food served during a visit. This file of Preply, which has added the research on little-known etiquette rules, interest in etiquette rules, and the place of manners and courtesy in social life to the many researches it has conducted in the field of language and culture, concluded with a call for those who want to learn a language in all its subtleties online with native-speaking foreign language teachers in the plan of their choice.