Formal conventions in postcards

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Viktor77
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Formal conventions in postcards

Post by Viktor77 »

Hello all, I'm looking for some advice. I recently signed up for a sort of postcard exchange where I send and receive postcards from all over the world (but mostly Russia and Germany for some reason). A lot of the people who do this are older, or at least that's my impression. I usually write them in their language (except Russian, which I'd do but I'd need a proofreader because I know nothing of Russian!). For example I just wrote one to an old lady in Magdeburg who said she didn't even speak English and I've written a few to older people in France, too.

I never know if I should siezen or vouvoie (or whatever the equivalent in Russian is) these people. I did for the French ones but it felt stiff. I didn't for the German one because it was feeling stiff and distancing as it did for the French ones.

So if you wrote postcards to people you didn't know would you use formal or informal conventions?
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hwhatting
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Re: Formal conventions in postcards

Post by hwhatting »

If they are older people, formal in German until they tell you to use informal.

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Viktor77
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Re: Formal conventions in postcards

Post by Viktor77 »

hwhatting wrote:If they are older people, formal in German until they tell you to use informal.
Yea but these are postcards to people I'll only ever talk to once. I just send postcards to strangers.
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hwhatting
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Re: Formal conventions in postcards

Post by hwhatting »

Viktor77 wrote:
hwhatting wrote:If they are older people, formal in German until they tell you to use informal.
Yea but these are postcards to people I'll only ever talk to once. I just send postcards to strangers.
If you don't care what they think about you, you can write what you want. Still, the convention for communication with unknown people, especially if they're above 40 or so of age, or if you don't know the age, is to use the formal pronouns. (And use of formal pronouns also means using Herr/Frau plus last name).

Civil War Bugle
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Re: Formal conventions in postcards

Post by Civil War Bugle »

I am on the same website and will use Spanish with people (the only non-English language I speak which is common enough among other members for me to ever use it) and I almost invariably use tu unless the recipient is an elderly pensioner or something. I think that informal pronouns are broadly acceptable among younger people (no citation handy but I feel like I have read this) but if you are sending one to an older person, doesn't hurt to play it safe, especially if their profile makes them look like a more formal type of person.

I will send you a postcard if you want one.

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Re: Formal conventions in postcards

Post by Curlyjimsam »

Postcards for me are something you would pretty much only ever send to someone you know pretty well, so I really don't know what I'd do if I was postcarding someone I'd never met.

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Viktor77
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Re: Formal conventions in postcards

Post by Viktor77 »

Curlyjimsam wrote:Postcards for me are something you would pretty much only ever send to someone you know pretty well, so I really don't know what I'd do if I was postcarding someone I'd never met.
It turns out you tutoie. I've now sent and received a number of postcards in German, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Russian and formal conventions are not observed.
Falgwian and Falgwia!!

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.

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