Respectful Titles
Author: Lone Bendixen Goulani, University of Kurdistan – Hewler, Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Review/editing: Aaron Rotsinger, University of St Andrews
Situation: Karzan is a Kurdish refugee from Iraq who has been living in Denmark for a year. He has been studying an intensive Danish course since his arrival, and he is keen on practicing his language with the locals. One day, he is going to the supermarket. An old lady comes out of the supermarket holding her grocery bag. She trips on the pedestrian walk and falls to the ground. Her shopping bag falls out of her hands, and all her groceries are scattered on the ground. Karzan rushes to help the woman stand up. After that, he collects all her groceries and puts them back in her shopping bag. He hands her the shopping bag and asks: “Are you okay, mother?” The old lady gets angry and says: “I am not your mother!” and walks away. Karzan is confused and thinks to himself “What did I do wrong?”.
Question: What do you think went wrong in this situation? How could Karzan and the old lady have behaved differently in this situation?
Karzan called her “mother” which is a respectful way to address an old woman in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Karzan did not realize calling the old woman “mother” was inappropriate in Denmark.
The old woman should have asked Karzan why he called her mother.
Karzan should have studied how to address people in his new home country.
The old woman should not have commented on Karzan calling her mother.
Does it bother you if people do not use a title when they speak to you?
Do you think it is important to use titles when you talk or write to other people?
How do you address a taxi driver, a teacher or a boss in your culture?
Are there people in your society who have titles that other people do not have (e.g. crown princess or sheikh)?
Is there a difference between the titles you use for children, youth and old people in your culture?