11th
form Unit 2
1/ Listen to the dialogue, and say
which facts are true, false or not stated in it.
a/ Olga is a visitor to London.
b/ Olga knows a lot about Joseph Malord
William Turner.
c/ One can see contemporary pictures in
the Tate Britain.
d/ One can’t see Turner’s works in the
Tate Modern.
e/ Brian doesn’t like Turner’s paintings.
f/ The Tate Gallery has the name of an art
collector.
2/ Some sentences are missing. Read the text and restore the
missing parts.
A
|
How does culture
“express” itself?
|
B
|
Where does
culture come from?
|
C
|
Why is
understanding culture so important?
|
D
|
How to
analyze culture?
|
E
|
What is
culture ?
|
According to Gary Wederspahn,
culture is the shared set of assumptions, values, and
beliefs of a group of people by which they organize their common life.
In our world we can distinguish lot of cultures because of the number of
countries for example, but also we can see some scales in these “country
cultures”.
When you travel all over the
world, you have to face these different cultures with their own meaning
and perception of words or gestures. Understanding culture will help
you to be more aware of these differences and so avoid big mistakes in your
behavior, what we call “cultural adjustment”.
Even if the contrary can be thought,
we are not spontaneous in our behavior. Our
cultures, our education, and so on, influence us in everyday situations. That
is why once you know people’s values and beliefs, you can often expect
and predict their behavior. We can say that our behavior is a
reflection of our culture.
Culture is often compared to
an iceberg: the visible section of the iceberg is so much shorter than
the invisible part under water. Each culture has some aspects
which are observable and others that can only be suspected or imagined. Thus,
the part of culture which is visible, such as behavior, is only a small part of
a bigger picture.
To give you a better idea of
culture expression, here are listed some examples of cultural behavior:
facial expressions, religious beliefs, religious rituals, importance
of time, paintings, values, literature, gestures, holiday customs, nature of
friendship, notions of modesty, foods and eating habits, understanding of the
natural world, concept of self, work ethic, concept of beauty, music, style of
dress…
How do people get their
culture? How do they learn all the behaviors that are regarded as right
and wrong in their society? This process, also known as cultural
conditioning, is present in every culture, but the specific behaviors that
people have, the precise content of their conditioning, is different from group
to group.
Everyone knows that common
culture come mainly from a common history which shapes our mind and so
have influence on our behavior or way of thinking.
The most important part of
your culture will be acquired during your childhood, but you will acquire new
behaviors until the end of your life:
In Childhood: children learn
basics activities as eating, walking, talking, dressing, bathing, etc. These
basics are the origin of the future children’s behavior.
As Adults: people learn new
behavior or new ways to perform thanks to education, travels, etc. Adults
learn how to adapt themselves.
Or how
to have the right behavior? We can find five steps of culture analyzing:
1) Observation/Instruction: you
become aware of a particular behavior but have not yet tried to do it yourself.
2) Imitation: now
you try to have the same behavior
3) Reinforcement:
people help you by correcting you or showing you.
4) Internalization: you
know how to behave but you still need practice.
5) Spontaneous Manifestation: you
no more need to pay attention to your behavior, it comes naturally.
When you go into another
country than yours, you will be confronted with different
behaviors, different foods, and different ways of life. Most of
people are amused when they see that. But most of the time
they are making fun about, being narrow-minded, forgetting
that everybody do not have the same culture.
Understanding culture is
important, as it makes you aware and more sensitive to
differences, and you could avoid big mistake in your behavior or maybe
adjust, but at least to respect the people that belong to other cultures than
your own.
Moreover understanding culture
does not only exist in the aim of helping poor little students but it is also a
real challenge for international businesses. You will not promote a product in
the same way in France or in Germany or in Russia.
Understanding culture is the
most important thing when dealing and respecting people. It does
not mean, you have to go out of your way to mimic a culture that is different
than your own, but you should respect the other culture and treat it a
different, not inferior yours!
3/ Translate into Russian:
быть умелым садоводом, букет цветов, признание среди коллег, до известной
степени, шедевр архитектуры, Английский – это учебная дисциплина в учебных
планах институтов, экипаж корабля, оценить результаты, постоянная температура,
отражать отношение, иметь общие ценности, мне нужен учебник по грамматике,
бумага делается из дерева.
4/ Look
at the diagram . Does it reflect the meaning of culture? Comment the following.
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