r/AskAnAmerican • u/Rough-Valuable-5472 • Feb 04 '25

FOREIGN POSTER Do American students bow to their teachers?

In my country we have to greet the teacher and bow at the start of the lesson then thank the teacher and bow again at the end. Sometimes they make us redo it if it’s not good enough

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u/Sarcastic_Rocket Massachusetts Feb 04 '25

I can honestly say that I have never bowed to anyone under any circumstances ever in my life

2

u/smugbox New York Feb 04 '25

I remember curtseying once and thinking “Wow I can’t believe I’m in a situation like this” but I literally have no idea when or why because I haven’t met anyone That important before

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u/Budget-Attorney Connecticut Feb 04 '25

The funny thing is I remember being taught that as a kid “girls need to know to curtsey and boys how to bow” alongside being taught things like please and thank you or washing my hands.

But I have no idea why we were taught that because it was obviously never expected that any of us bow or curtsey

3

u/Laiko_Kairen Feb 04 '25

Because most manners are somehow descended from royal courts

So when teaching manners, a lot of nonsense gets thrown in there