There is an interesting appearence by different culture

Yesterday,I found a language parter on italki and left a message to her. Then she told me she was 4 hours behind me.I thought that is when she was 8:00am and my time should be 4:00am.But it was unbelieveable to me the answer is wrong!!!The right answer to the question that should be when she is 8:00am and my time should be 12:00am!!! I thought the whole night and asked someone from Mexico,Australia,Russia and China. Both sides hold different opinions. In the end,I found the reason!!!The first way of understanding,12:00am is behind the time of 8:00am, the other way of understanding is when A is 8:00am and B is 12:00am,then B have passed 4 hours more than A,so A is behind B because of A have 4 hours to spend! Is that because of the difference of culture?

You have it all back to front.

12 a.m. is actually midnight. So 8.00 a.m. is ahead of 12.00 a.m. by four hours. OR you could say that  12.00 a.m. is behind 8.00 a.m.  There cannot be a difference in opinion about this.  It is not a cultural difference.  There are official time lines running in imaginery longitudinal lines around the earth.  The whole world cannot be on the same time line when the earth is turning.

American English Corrections

Something Interesting Due to Cultural Differences

Yesterday, I found someone with whom I wanted to be language partners on italki and sent a message to her. Then She told me she was 4 hours behind me. I thought that meant that when it is 8:00 am for her that it should be 4:00 am for me. That was wrong though. I couldn't believe it at first!!! What it really meant is that when it is 8:00 am for her it is 12:00 pm for me!!! I thought over this the whole night and asked someone from Mexico, Australia, Russia and China. Everyone had different opinions. In the end, I found out the reason why it was the opposite of what I originally thought!!! One way of understanding this is that 12:00 am is behind, or "comes before", 8:00 am. Another way of understanding this is when A is 8:00 am and B is 12:00 pm, then 4 hours have passed from A to B, so A is behind B! Is that because of cultural differences?

Think of it as two rows of times. Numbers on the left are "behind" numbers on the right. Numbers on the right are "ahead" of numbers on the left. If I say the time is 6 am here and I am 2 hours behind you, then I have to move two places to the right which would mean that it is 8 am where you are. If I am 2 hours behind you and it is 11 am where I am, then it is 1 pm where you are. When you move to the right from 11 am, you move to the next line of times. If I am two hours behind you and it is 11 pm where I am, then it is 1 am where you are. :)

12 am > 1 am > 2 am > 3 am > 4am > 5 am > 6 am > 7 am > 8 am > 9 am > 10 am > 11 am

12 pm > 1 pm > 2 pm > 3 pm > 4pm > 5 pm > 6 pm > 7 pm > 8 pm > 9 pm > 10 pm > 11 pm