This weekend we will celebrate Mother’s Day in the U.S. If you live in the U.S., you might assume that everyone around the globe is buying flowers, greeting cards, and calling their moms this Sunday. But this isn’t the case. Other countries celebrate moms on the second Sunday in May with the U.S., including Canada, Chile, and Italy. But, the UK and Ireland celebrate it the fourth Sunday of Lent, Russia in November, and Indonesia in December. For the full list of dates, click here.
Let’s take a look at the difference across cultures and countries for the greeting card industry for Mother’s Day and other holidays.
In the U.S., there seems to be a way to say exactly how you feel for just about every occasion. Cross over into other countries, however, and you typically don’t find this type of social-expression messaging outside of birthdays, Christmas and a few other major holidays. What will you find? Most likely, you will find blank cards with a picture or simple message on the front. Don’t expect to walk down to your local greeting card shop, either. This, too, is more of an American norm.
The linguists specializing in the translation of greeting cards at Global Language Solutions point out some major differences in the greeting card industry across countries and cultures.