Лингвострановедение. Практикум. Задания для самостоятельной работы. Учебное пособие по английскому языку для студентов, обучающихся по программе бакал

Yes indeed, you read correctly, bog snorkeling. If any of you ever doubted that us Brits are mad, this should make up your minds for you. Basically participants dive into a bog, wearing goggles, a pair of flippers and a snorkel, they then proceed to race each other along a 120ft trench filled with mud. Held every year the participants come from all over the world and raise lots of money for charity.

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TEXT 7

MEANING OF GESTURES IN DIFFERENT CULTURES ...

COMPLIMENTARY OR OFFENSIVE?

February 21, 2015

In a foreign country, a man visited a local restaurant. He didn‟t speak their language. He ordered something indecipherable off the menu. When the waiter ought him a plate of delicious looking fried noodles, he smiled and made an.

OK sign at the waiter with his thumb and forefinger linked in a circle. Looking angry, the waiter then picked up the dish and thrown it to his lap. What he did wrong, he wondered. Well, nothing is quite as it seems when it comes to using hand gesture in another country.

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Gestures or emblems have been used to replace words in many countries, and they are often specific to a given culture. Gesture may mean something complimentary in one culture, but is highly offensive in another. Generally, there are no universal hand gestures. However, with the influence of television and countries. In spite of that, if we want to succeed in international business and movies, some gestures have become more widely known and accepted in many relations, we should be aware of these differences, understand, respect and accept them. To many, these misunderstanding can still be a bigger deal than just momentarily annoyances.

Don‟t show this to a Turkish, Maltese, German, Brazilian and Russian.

You Say More Than You Think: A 7-Day Plan for Using the New Body Language to Get What You Want.

What does this ‘Oh’ sign mean to you?

If you are an English ― speaking Caucasian and under the sea scuba diving around the world, it means „OK‟, „good‟, or „spot on‟. In fact, it was believed that this „OK‟ sign has been popularized by divers.

French understands it as „zero‟ or „worthless‟. Japanese would read it as „money‟.

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To most Europeans, it signals the number 1, since they count from 1 to 5 beginning with the thumb for 1 and ending with the little finger at number 5.Other nationalities, like Americans and Asians usually start counting on the index finger for number 1, and end on the thumb for number 5.

Avoid using this gesture in Southern Sardina or Northern Greece unless you want to invite a fight. There, it is an obscene insult signal meaning „get stuffed‟ (or f*** you).While American, British and Australian would use the thumb up to signal hitch-hiking to the drivers, this message will not encourage a Greek driver or motorist to stop to give them a ride.

The Thumb up Meanings

Based on 1,200 informants from 40 different locations from all over the world, the meanings of ‘thumb-up’were interpreted as follows:

Source: http://bernd.wechner.info/Hitchhiking/Thumb

Understanding the cultural upbringing of a person is vitally essential to avoid misinterpretation of gestures and misunderstanding of the other person‟s feelings and intentions. Most Asians are not used to looking Australians, Americans or British in the eyes, as they view it as cultural sign of disrespect, so the Westerners misinterpret the Asians‟ intention as devious, insincere or deceitful. Most Europeans like to stand physically close to the person whom they are having a conversation with, much closer than the Westerners. Consequently, Westerners think the Europeans are „pushy‟ while Europeans think the Westerners are aloof or reserved.

There are no right or wrong signals, only cultural differences. Lack of cultural understanding will lead to disharmony among people from different cultures. When we know what to look for, such encounters with other cultures are actually very interesting, fascinating and fun. It is certainly a great topic to discuss over a cup of coffee and cakes.

The text and all images on this page, unless otherwise indicated, are owned by Ingenira who hereby asserts her copyright on the material. Permission must be granted by the author in writing prior to copy or republish this article in print or online.© Ingenira 2012.

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Таблица 2

Legal public holidays and other special days (USA)

3. Выберите правильный вариант и заполните пропуски.

1. There is a legend which dates from long ago that as long as there are

……….. at the Tower, Britain will continue to exist.

а) ravens b) doves c) rats

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2. “Bobby” is a nickname of British ………….

a) fire-brigade man b) policeman c) bell-boy in a hotel

3.Fleet Street is so well known, because ………………..

a) most of the banks are located here b) Royal Navy headquarters is here

c) most of the principle newspapers have offices here

4.The woolen fabric which bares the name of the river in Scotland is ……….

6. One of the four boroughs of New York, the heart of the city, a rocky island (the one which, as tradition says, had been bought from the Indians for

24 dollars) is ………………..

7. The flag of the USA consists of …….. stripes and ……. stars. The stripes represent the ……. and stars represent the …….. number of the states in the Union.

ТЕСТОВЫЕ ЗАДАНИЯ ДЛЯ ПРОМЕЖУТОЧНОЙ АТТЕСТАЦИИ

TEST 1

1. a) Read the British English words and give their Russian equivalents. b) Read the Russian words and say what they mean in B E and in A E.

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2. Read the dialogues and:

a)say which words belong to an American and which to an Englishman;

b)pick out the British word sand their American equivalents , give their Russian translation;.

c)underline the American English words matching with their British English words.

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TEST 2

1. Which of the statements belong to British English and to American

English?

1.I want to make a call to California. Could you connect me within 10 minutes?

2.I‟m sorry your number is engaged. Shall I try and put you through

later?

3.After you have filled out the form, take the elevator to the second floor and there you may exchange your money.

4.Where can I find a phone box? I want to ring my mother up. Oh, I need to change my pound note. Where can I do it?

5.The toilet‟s on the ground floor. Go past the chemist‟s, the Lost Property, and there you‟ll see it.

6.There‟s no need for you to queue up with your telegramme.

7.He wants to mail some of his letters. Tell him the Zip code, please, and show him where the mailbox is.

2. What would you say if you were an American/a British?

What do you use to get to the second floor?

What do you do if you have to write your name, date and year of birth?

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What do you use when you want to make a call to your friend? Where do you go to buy pills?

Help my brother to send a letter. You have lost a thing of yours.

What would you do?

3. Say the following in English: you are from London;

you are from New York.

Заполнить (документ). Где тут лифт?

Извините, это Ваша сумочка? Телефонная будка.

Какой у Вас почтовый индекс? Как Ваша фамилия?

Где я могу разменять деньги? Как найти аптеку?

Почтовый ящик за углом.

4. Translate into Russian: English Joke

The old farmer and his wife visited the menagerie. When they halted before the hippopotamus cage, he remarked admiringly:

„Darn‟d curi‟s fish, ain‟t it, ma?‟

„That ain‟t a fish‟, the wife announced. „That‟s a reptile‟.

It was thus that the argument began. It progressed to a point of such violence that the old lady began belaboring the husband with her umbrella. The old man dodged and ran, with the wife in pursuit. The trainer had just opened the door of the lions‟ cage, and the farmer popped in. He crowded in behind the largest lion and peered over its shoulder fearfully at his wife, who, on the other side of the bars, shook her umbrella furiously.

„Coward!‟ she shouted. „Coward!‟.

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