Hello! How are you? My name is Mirna. What is your name?
I’m sure you have heard this line of dialogue somewhere… Maybe every time you introduce yourself to new people?
It is customary that, when we meet someone for the first time, we introduce ourselves by saying our name and asking the other person for theirs, however, the conversation, or what we say next, may depend on the context of the situation we find ourselves in.
Assessing the situation
Imagine you are entering your first year at University and you are meeting your classmates and potential friends for the first time. Everyone is happy and excited and trying to meet each other. The situational context is: relaxed and a bit informal – casual.
Now, imagine you are in the last interview to get the job you want. This last meeting is with the person that would be your direct boss. This person is older than you, but even if they weren’t, their rank in the corporate hierarchy is enough to be more respectful towards this person. How would you read the situational context here? Formalities need to be observed, right?
Another scenario: you are meeting the parents of your significant other. How would you greet them? Would you talk to them like they are your best friends or someone your age you just met? Or would you talk to them like you talk to your boss or the president of the corporation you work for?
Formality
The way we introduce ourselves to people is oftentimes linked with the formality the situation requires. I remember one time in University when one of my friends was chatting with her other friends, then she introduced me to them and I, not assessing the situation, offered my hand for a handshake in greeting and they just looked at me a bit weird, took my hand and hugged me. Later I realized that I had acted in a much more formal way than the situation required. I’m not saying that I was wrong for offering a handshake, I’m just pointing out the level of formality the situation required didn’t match the one I offered.
In Mexico, and I’d guess in other parts of the world, it is common amongst young people to hug each other and give a side kiss on the cheek when you meet other people your age. This situation carries a low level of formality, since we are aiming for a friendly, accepting behaviour, oftentimes with the intention of making friends. Although this kind of greeting can also be extended to older people, like members of your family. This kind of greeting is very common between women and from a man to a woman and viceversa, when they have previously met each other.
For purposes of this post, we will take into account three levels of formality:
- Formal – Is the standard English we can find in job interviews, school lectures, reports, speeches, etc.
- Casual – Is the English that we use on the daily; we can listen to it when we watch the news or when we are engaged in conversation with someone we just met, or with someone we know but the relationship with that person is not very close, for example, when you talk to your boss or your coworkers.
- Intimate or informal – Is the English that we use when we talk with close friends and family; it is very common that we find slang in this level of formality.
Introducing yourself
When meeting someone for the first time, it is common to make small talk, for example, asking about where the other person comes from, the things they like and dislike, their interests, etc., with the intention of getting to know each other.
When we introduce ourselves, we also observe the language we use depending on the situation. Let’s observe the following scenario:
Alice is a private teacher, and Lalo is her student. Today is their first day of classes.
Alice: Good morning! My name is Miss Alice and I will be your tutor for the next month.
Lalo: Good morning Miss Alice. My name is Lalo. Nice to meet you!
Alice: Nice to meet you too, Lalo. Are you happy about your extracurricular English classes?
Lalo: Yes! I’m looking forward to them. I asked my parents to enroll me in this school because I want to learn English.
Alice: Really? You sound really excited about learning! But tell me, why do you want to learn English?
Lalo: Because I like to listen to music a lot, and I want to know what the songs I like talk about.
Alice: That’s a very good reason! Alright, let’s start with today’s lesson!
We can observe that the tone of the conversation is casual but polite, since it’s the first time Alice and Lalo meet each other; but there are also other things to take into consideration, for example: Alice is older than Lalo and is in a position of authority; on the contrary, Lalo is younger than her and, as is expected from someone young, he talks to her animatedly but with politeness.
Greetings and farewells
The example above is a way in which we can intriduce ourselves, but there are different greetings we can use to do it. Greetings and farewells can also be used depending the level of formality present in the conversation.
Here you have the most common greetings and farewells ordered by the level of formality.
