Comprehension check

Read the article again and answer the questions. Discuss the questions in pairs.

1. Which nationalities are the most and least punctual?

2. Why did the British think that everyone understood their customs?

3. Which nationalities do not like to eat and do business at the same time?

4. 'They (the French) have to be well fed and watered.' What or who do you normally have to feed and water?

5. An American friend of yours is going to work in Japan. Give some advice about how he/she should and shouldn't behave.

6. Imagine you are at a party in (a) England (b) America. How could you begin a conversation with a stranger? Continue the conversations with your partner.

8. Which nationalities have rules of behaviour about hands? What are the rules?

9. Why is it not a good idea to ...

... say that you absolutely love your Egyptian friend's vase.

... go to Russia if you don't drink alcohol. ...

say 'Hi! See you later!' when you're introduced to someone in Afghanistan.

... discuss politics with your American friend in a McDonald's.

Discussion

1. Do you agree with the saying 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do'?

2. What are the 'rules' about greeting people in your country? When do you shake hands? When do you kiss? What about when you say goodbye?

3. Think of one or two examples of bad manners. For example, in Britain it is considered impolite to ask people how much they earn.

What advice would you give somebody coming to live and work in your country?

Lesson 2

In the following texts you`ll read about cross-cultural differences between Ukraine and English-speaking countries:

TEXT A:

Pre-reading tasks:

1. What is cultural difference, to your opinion?

2. Give 5 cultural differences of the Ukrainians compared to some other nationalities.

3. Do you believe in Ukrainian cultural identity?

In studying cross cultural differences, we are trying to comparef one ethnic group against another and generalization cannot be avoided. Here is an attempt to sort out some ideas on cultural differences.

The main cultural differences between the United States and Ukraine are family values, and society structures.

■The American population is more diverse and accepting of diversity than Ukrainians. The immigrant population has come from all over the world and through the centuries they love melded together to form a uniquely American persona. Americans are generally more independent thinking about their lives:

In the US, in most families, the parents are expecting all their children to leave home at 18 years of age when they finish High School. They look forward to their children either going off on university, and/or starting their own lives and families. So young people usually move away from home to go to college and never live permanently at home again.

Generally, children do not have their elder, retired parents living with them. This is only done in some areas where there are a lot of Latin American families (of Spanish/European heritage) or Asian families where it is traditional to have parents living with older children. Usually, in the USA parents retire from working and live in retirement homes or facilities and are cared for by professionals who specialize in this type of work, not their children.

There are several other particular differences in upbringing of children. For instance, most of American babies wear diapers till 3 or 4. It is normal for mother to breastfeed baby till 3 years. Babies are allowed to do whatever they want - crying or wallow in mud. Moreover, mothers breastfeed babies everywhere - in the restaurants, airports, on the playground and they are comfortable with that.

Because of very strict regulations on child protection from violence in the US it is forbidden to punish and discipline children through shouting at child in public, beating or threaten­ing the child.

COMMUNICATION

Americans ask a lot of questions, but they would never talk about age, income, religion and sexual orientation.

FOOD

American restaurants serve enormously big portions (though, food is not always delicious). One should be careful not to order too much for a dinner.

In the USA, there are very few street vendors selling goods, vegetables or fruit. Sometimes you can find them in the very large cities like New York, or in a special farmer's market in the countryside areas. Sometimes you can find them in the very large cities like New York, or in a special farmer's market in the countryside areas.

RELATIONSHIP

For Americans it is not acceptable to give expensive gifts when the relationship between man and woman are at the first stage. There is a widespread idea that while receiving expensive gifts a girl is being bought, and if she is unable to purchase expensive things by herself and expects to get them from a man she is a "gold-digger". There­fore such kind of question that we often hear from Ukrainian girls - "What kind of present did you get from him?" - will never be asked by the American girls. The American couples rarely laugh at each other in the presence of the strangers, because it can be considered as conflict relationship.

SPORT

Americans are keen on jogging. Sometimes one can think that every American jogs. Some people do it even in the lunch time. For example, an office worker changes his/her clothes and goes to a park for jogging.

EXAMS AND CHEATING

Cheating at the exam is considered to be mean and unfair. Unlike in Ukraine, American students never use cribs. Moreover, it is a shame to prompt to a friend. Generally, the attitude towards the exams differentiates greatly – Americans do not take exams as a “struggle between a student and a teacher”.

CLOTHES

American women dress more casually both for leisure and work. Sporting and energetic style gravitating to unisex is rather widespread, unlike Ukraine, where ladies prefer strongly decorated clothes and love romantic style, sometimes even theatrical.

OTHER HABITS

People get up at 5 or 6 in the morning in America. A lot of Americans live in residential areas away from city. So it takes an hour or two to get to a job place.

PUNCTUALITY

Americans are very punctual. Being late for 5 minutes for a meeting causes profound irritation. They rarely reschedule or cancel meetings.