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Work in pairs. Tell each other your tips.



 

 

Unit 3. Similarities and differences in countries and national cultures

 

VOCABULARY

 

Ex. 1. Work in pairs. Look at the words below and make sure you understand their meaning.

· friendly decisive honest rude sophisticated

· creative hard-working greedy outspoken lazy

· energetic intelligent nationalistic self-indulgent athletic

· shy conservative outgoing

 

When you think of British, what four adjectives do you most associate with them? Choose quickly as you have a time limit of two minutes. Next decide what four adjectives you least associate with them.

Ex. 2. Check the meaning of unknown words relating to holidays, customs and traditions of the country. Make up sentences with them.

 

customs and traditions decorate invite/invitation
public /private holidays celebrate congratulate
day off from work give/receive presents party
shops and factories close greeting cards festive dinner
family holiday visit friends and relatives fun

SPEAKING

Ex. 3. Read the following situations and decide how you feel about such behavior.

Ratings

1. very common 2. common 3. not strange but not common 4. strange 5. very strange

Circle the number that corresponds to your feeling.

1. A man wearing a skirt.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

2. Eating meals with your fingers.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

3. Using the same bath water as others in your family.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

4. Bargaining with the salesperson in a department. store.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

5. Slurping soup in a restaurant.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

6. A woman breast-feeding her baby in public.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

7. Two adult men holding hands in public.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

8. Adult children living with their parents until they get married.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

9. Sniffing continuously in public when you have a runny nose.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

10. Receiving a present from the bride and groom at a wedding.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

11. Blowing your nose in public.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

12. Eating in public, e.g. on the street.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

13. Your brother or sister marries someone from another country.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

14. Using an umbrella when it's sunny.
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

 















READING

Critical Incidents

Ex. 4. Read the story in pairs. Underline new vocabulary items in the texts and to be ready to explain their meaning. Choose the best interpretation of the characters' actions based on their knowledge of the characters' cultures. There might be more than one explanation. Discuss your options and mark your answers with such words as "the best choice", "satisfactory", "less than satisfactory", "the worst choice".

A) Japanese and American Cultures: Eating in Class

Junji Edo has just arrived from Japan to begin working on his degree at an American university. Before his arrival to the United States, Junji had read several books about America, its people and its culture. Despite his preparation, however, several confusing and frustrating incidents occurred during his first weeks in the United States.

On Mondays Junji was always very busy. He had classes all day and hardly had any time for lunch. One day he showed up at his history class a couple minutes before it started and told one of his classmates, Julianne, that he was really busy all morning and didn't have time for lunch. The bell rang and the teacher came into the class. Julianne opened her backpack and took out a small bag of potato chips and a can of soda and gave them to Junji. Junji was very surprised and embarrassed. He whispered thank you to his friend and refused the food. Junji was even more bewildered when Julianne took another bag of potato chips and started eating them in class. To Junji's amazement, the teacher did not make any comments on Julianne's behavior and proceeded with the class as usual.

 

Questions

 

1. What motivated Junji to act the way he did?

· A. Junji did not like Julianne as a person and did not want to accept food from her.

· B. Junji was not used to people sharing food with him.

· C. Junji considered eating in class disrespectful towards the teacher.

2. What attitudes or values appear to be important in Japanese society based on Junji's actions?

· A. In Japan, people never share their food with others outside of their family.

· B. In Japan, eating in the class is impolite and shows disrespect towards a teacher.

· C. In Japan, women are not allowed to share food with men.

3. Why do you think Julianne behaved the way she did?

· A. Julianne felt obligated to share her food with Junji.

· B. Julianne always eats in class.

· C. Julianne realized that Jinji was hungry and was willing to share her food with him.

4. What attitudes or values appear to be important in American society based on Julianne and the teacher's behavior?

· A. In the United States, having a snack during a class does not mean that students do not respect their teacher. Teachers expect active participation in the class and do not mind students' having small snacks if that makes them more comfortable and willing to engage in classroom work.

· B. In the United States, it is considered rude not to share food with the people around you.

· C. In the United States, teachers encourage students to share everything to make them feel more connected to each other and become a unified group of people.

5. What could have been done differently to avoid this cross-cultural misunderstanding?

 

 

B) Russian and American Culture: Cheating during a Quiz

Larisa Petrova, a student from Russia, won a scholarship to go to an American university. She was very excited about going to the United States and did a lot of reading about American culture. Before her arrival to the United States, Larisa had read several books about America, its people and its culture. Despite her preparation, however, several confusing and frustrating incidents occurred during her first weeks in the United States.

Larisa stayed up all night long writing a term paper for her psychology class. Next morning, during her Spanish class the teacher unexpectedly announced that they were going to have a pop quiz on the material they covered in the last two classes. Larisa was afraid that she was going to fail it as she neither did her homework nor reviewed the material from the previous class. Bill, Larisa's friend from the tennis club and also a classmate in Spanish, seemed to be unconcerned about the quiz. During the quiz, Larisa was asking Bill for the answers to the questions she was not sure of. However, Bill seemed to be annoyed by her questions and did not want to share his answers. Larisa's feelings were hurt. To make the matter worse, the teacher, having seen what Larisa was doing, asked her to hand in her incomplete test and to leave the class.

 

Questions

 

1. What motivated Larisa to act the way she did?

· A. Larisa expected Bill to help her out during the quiz because she considered him her friend.

· B. Larisa wanted Bill to help her with the quiz because she was selfish and wanted to get a good grade no matter what.

· C. Larisa expected Bill to help her out during the test because she was a woman.

2. What attitudes or values appear to be important in Russian society based on Larisa's actions?

· A. In Russia, friends are supposed to stick together in their battle against authority. Teachers are considered to be such authority.

· B. In Russia, men are supposed to help women in all situations.

· C. In Russia, students always work on their tests and quizzes together as a team.

3. Why do you think Bill behaved the way he did?

· A. Bill did not want to help Larisa because he considered her as competition in his Spanish class.

· B. Bill did not like Larisa as a person and did not want to help her out during the quiz.

· C. Bill liked Larisa as a person but did not want to help her cheat on the quiz as he considered it morally wrong.

4. What attitudes or values appear to be important in American society based on Bill and the teacher's behavior?

· A. In the United States, it is considered unacceptable to ask for help.

· B. In the United States, students never help each other in class no matter how much they like each other.

· C. In the United States, cheating on tests is considered unacceptable and wrong. It may lead to academic dismissal. Students are supposed to get grades for what they know and not what they have copied from someone else's paper.

5. What could have been done differently to avoid this cross-cultural misunderstanding?

 

READING

Ex. 5. A) Read the text Multiculturalism in the Modern World and be ready to speak about its leading ideas.

 


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