Lao student from Tohoku University won the annual English speech contest held in Sendai city, Japan 2007. The following is the 5-minute script used by Lao student in the speech contest.
Title: "Japanese manners! "
It has been 4 years since I first came to Japan from Laos. During my time here, I could notice many cultural differences and similarities between the two countries for many aspects. Today, allow me to share with you three Japanese manners that I think my country should learn from.
First of all, I feel that Japanese are very punctual. You may have heard about Japanese time being very strict. 1 minute is considered to be late here, while in my country, to be late for 1 hour is normal and acceptable. Lao people like to make an excuse that being late is better than not coming, which I think it is not good and should change as soon as possible. Japanese are also very dedicated to their works. When Japanese start working at 9.00 a.m, they really start work at 9.00 a.m! In Laos, if work starts at 9.00 a.m, they may come to work around 9.30, and before starting work, they may start with a coffee break, then read the newspaper, then take some time for smoking, coming back to check email and then get ready to go out for Lunch. Times passed by without any output! I really want my country to change this manner, to be on time and to scarify more of their time to their works.
Secondly, I would say that Japanese have very high levels of patience and discipline. They follow the rule “first come first serve” which I think it is very fair to people overall. To give you an example, Japanese people stand in line patiently waiting to board the bus, while in Laos, people start running to catch a bus even if it has not yet stopped! Japanese traffic laws and regulations are very strict. If you are drunk and drive, you will be fined, and all the people inside your car, even though they do not drink, will also be fined. In Laos it is another story. We also have a rule, it is just a rule, a piece of paper, but people hardly follow it. To have a couple of beers and then drive is nothing. They always say I can drive, no problem, don’t worry about me! As a result, many hundred of people die every year because of accident in Laos. You may also not know that the capital city of Laos, Vientiane, is the city that has the highest rate of accidents per population in the world!
Lastly, I would like to mention that Japanese takes very good care of their customers. I remembered the first time I came to Japan and entered a convenience store. All the staff bowed almost 90 decrees and greeted me with the word Irashaimase. At that time I was very surprised and almost stepped back out of the shop because I had no intention to buy anything and just wanted to look around. This is totally different from my country where the shop owner hardly says any greeting to you and on the contrary, you may sometimes have to wake him or her up just to ask the price! Another example that impresses me a lot is that, If there are 30 people who get off the bus, the driver will say “Arigato gozaimasita” for more than 30 times. In Laos, you may hardly hear people say “Thank you” after someone has used your service. I do not mean to ask Laotian people to say “Thank you” 30 times like in Japan, but at least, I want them to learn both ways of getting and giving, that is to get money and to express appreciation and thanks to the customers.
To end my speech, I do believe that manners are something that are very hard to changed, but it will never happen, if we don’t start to practice them today. I do not mean that Laotian people have to change their whole mindset and follow every Japanese manner, but to adopt the good Japanese manners and apply them effectively and harmoniously to the living and working styles of laotian people.
well , congratulation , meanwhile by comparing the speech in the public place which mainly compare between lao and japanese manner, basically what do you think? you think it is really proper to do that, of course there is the unacceptable real situation that we are confronting with recently , but on the one hand your speech specifically means to mock our society before the foreigner, if you want to change our society then you better talk only among our people but not to try to make it worse than the reality,
i am also one of the student who is studying in abroad but when we are in abroad i think we have the same target as promoting our culture and help each other to improve our country not to try to step it deep down
It is about cultural differences, and the author did not mean to look down on his/her country at all. Please read the conclusion again.
To end my speech, I do believe that manners are something that are very hard to changed, but it will never happen, if we don’t start to practice them today. I do not mean that Laotian people have to change their whole mindset and follow every Japanese manner, but to adopt the good Japanese manners and apply them effectively and harmoniously to the living and working styles of laotian people.
