Gratitude is so important to the way we communicate that if we don’t express it in culturally meaningful ways, major misunderstandings can occur. I believe that teaching international students how to express gratitude is really important if they are to assimilate well into society, and equally so it is important for those who are teaching these students to understand how to express gratitude to them. In her wonderful book The Gift of Thanks: The Roots and Rituals of Gratitude, social anthropologist Margaret Visser explores the French word for gratitude, which is reconnaissance – to recognise. When we recognise another for […]