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Файл:Тренинги по межкультурной коммуникации на английском языке. Для переводчиков жестового языка. English for Sign language interpreters. Учебное пособие
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они, по одному меткому выражению, образуют очередь даже из одного
человека. В местах, где очереди заведомо предсказуемы, расставляются специальные барьеры, чтобы никто не волновался и все были
уверены, что даже если кому-то все-таки удастся просочиться откудато сбоку, его проигнорируют и обольют презрением все вокруг,
включая того, к
кому этот кто-то прорывался, после чего ему все равно
придется встать в очередь.
Как и было сказано в начале, английский характер сложен, разнообразен и полон контрастов и парадоксов. Маленькая страна
благодаря силе этого характера смогла добиться большого уважения
окружающих. Более того, сохранение этого характера стало важной
целью этого
народа.
(http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/vs/article/512/)
15. WRITING: Compose an essay on the following topic “The
influence of the British national character on the Deaf Policy in the
UK”.
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UNIT 6
MAJOR ASPECTS OF COUNTRY
STUDIES: THE USA
1. LEAD-IN: Discuss how you understand the concept of “the
American dream”. Is it still relevant nowadays?
2. SPEAKING: Check your background knowledge. Have a look at
the example questions from the USA Citizenship Test. Discuss the
answers in groups of four. See if you could pass it.
1) What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?
2) What is the capital of the United States?
3) Where is the Statue of Liberty?
4) Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
5) Why does the flag have 50 stars?
6) What are the reasons colonists came to America?
7) Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
8) What group of people was taken to America and sold as slaves?
9) What is the supreme law of the land?
10) What is an amendment?
11) Why did the colonists fight the British?
12) What did the Declaration of Independence do?
13) Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?
14) When do we celebrate Independence Day?
15) What is the “rule of law”?
16) What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
17) Who was the first President?
18) For how many years is the US President elected?
19) If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
20) Name the U.S. war between the North and the South.
21) Name at least one problem that led to the Civil War.
22) What was one important thing that Abraham Lincoln did?
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23) Who did the United States fight in World War II?
24) What did Martin Luther King, Jr. do?
25) What major event happened on September 11, 2001, in the United
States?
26) Name at least two national U.S. holidays.
3. VOCABULARY: Read the Preamble to the US Constitution.
Explain the words in italics. Do they still represent the basic values of
the American society?
The Constitution of the United States
The Bill of Rights & All Amendments
(Preamble)
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect
Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
4. READING: Study the information on the etymology of the State’s
names. How many of them have Native American origin? What are the
other sources?
Origin of State Names
1) Alabama From the Alabama or Alibamu people, though the river
was named first. Alabama comes from the Choctaw for "vegetation
pickers," in reference to local farming practices.
2) Alaska A corruption of the Aleut word for "mainland", alaxsxaq
(lit. "that which the sea breaks against").
3) Arizona Likely from an O'odham phrase meaning "little spring," in
reference to a particular mining area.
4) Arkansas Likely from a French version of the Illinois name for the
local Quapaw people.
5) California From an adventure book, Las Sergas de Esplandián, by
Garcia Ordóñez de Montalvo, c. 1500.
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6) Colorado From the Spanish for "ruddy" or "red" (lit. "colored") in
reference to color of the Colorado River.
7) Connecticut From an Algonquian word (Quinnehtukqut) meaning
"beside the long tidal river".
8) Delaware From Delaware River and Bay; named in turn for Sir
Thomas West, Baron De La Warr.
9) Florida From the Spanish Pascua Florida, meaning "feast of
flowers" (Easter).
10) Georgia In honor of George II of England.
11) Hawaii Uncertain. The islands may have been named by Hawaii
Loa, their traditional discoverer. Or they may have been named after Hawaii
or Hawaiki, the traditional home of the Polynesians.
12) Idaho An invented name whose meaning is unknown. The man
who named it claimed it was from a Shoshone word, but later said it was
made up.
13) Illinois French version of an Algonquian word referring either to
"men" in general, or a particular group known as the Illinois.
14) Indiana Meaning "land of Indians" using a traditional Latin
suffix.
15) Iowa From the Iowa River which was named after the Ioway, or
Báxoǰe.
16) Kansas From a local word—used by the Dakota, Omaha, Kaw,
and others–meaning "people of the south wind."
17) Kentucky From an Iroquoian word "Ken-tah-ten" meaning "land
of tomorrow".
18) Louisiana In honor of Louis XIV of France.
19) Maine First used to distinguish the mainland from the offshore
islands. It has been considered a compliment to Henrietta Maria, queen of
Charles I of England. She was said to have owned the province of Mayne in
France.
20) Maryland In honor of Henrietta Maria (queen of Charles I of
England).
21) Massachusetts From the Massachusett people, whose endonym
means "people of the great hills".
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22) Michigan From an Ojibwe word, "mishigamaa" meaning "great
or large lake".
23) Minnesota From a Dakota word meaning "sky-tinted water".
24) Mississippi From the French rendering of an Anishinaabe name
for the river – "Misi-ziibi" meaning "Great River."
25) Missouri Named after the local Missouri people. "Missouri"
means "town of the large canoes."
26) Montana From the Spanish montaña, meaning "mountain".
27) Nebraska From an Oto word meaning "flat water."
28) Nevada Spanish for "snowy" or "snow-capped," in reference to the
peaks of the Sierra Nevada.
29) New Hampshire From the English county of Hampshire.
30) New Jersey From the Channel Isle of Jersey.
31) New Mexico From Mexico, itself named for the Mexica people.
Their endonym is believed to reference Mexitli, a Nahua deity.
32) New York In honor of the Duke of York.
33) North Carolina In honor of Charles I of England.
34) North Dakota From the Dakota peoples.
35) Ohio From a Seneca word meaning "great river".
36) Oklahoma From the Choctaw words for "red people," reportedly
named by a Choctaw leader following the Trail of Tears.
37) Oregon Unknown. However, it is generally accepted that the
name, first used by Jonathan Carver in 1778, was taken from the writings of
Maj. Robert Rogers, an English army officer.
38) Pennsylvania In honor of Adm. Sir William Penn, father of
William Penn. It means "Penn's Woodland".
39) Rhode Island From the Greek Island of Rhodes.
40) South Carolina In honor of Charles I of England.
41) South Dakota From the Dakota peoples.
42) Tennessee The origin of the name is unknown, though it possibly
comes from a Cherokee rendering of a Yuchi word.
43) Texas From a Caddo word meaning "allies," used by the Spanish
to describe the Caddo and the region they lived in.
44) Utah From the Ute people, meaning "people of the mountains".
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45) Vermont From the French "vert mont" meaning "green
mountain".
46) Virginia In honor of Elizabeth "Virgin Queen" of England.
47) Washington In honor of George Washington.
48) West Virginia In honor of Elizabeth, "Virgin Queen" of England.
49) Wisconsin French corruption of, possibly, a Miami word meaning
"it lies red" in reference to the bed of the Wisconsin River.
50) Wyoming Competing interpretations place it as from a Delaware
word, a Munsee word, or an Algonquian word. The most popular holds that
it is from a Delaware word for "mountains and valleys alternating"; the
same as the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania.
(https://www.infoplease.com/us/states/origin-of-state-names)
5. VOCABULARY: Study the map of the USA (see next page).
Match the nicknames of the States to their official names.
1) Alaska a) Aloha State
2) Arizona b) Battle Born State
3) California c) Golden State
4) Florida d) Little Rhody
5) Hawaii e) Mount Rushmore State
6) Michigan f) Sunshine State
7) Nevada g) Lone Star State
8) New York h) Old Dominion
9) Rhode Island i) Cowboy State
10) South Dakota j) The Last Frontier
11) Texas k) Grand Canyon State
12) Virginia l) Empire State
13) Wyoming m) Great Lakes State
6. SPEAKING: Try to explain why the States have such nicknames.
7. SPEAKING: Study the map of the USA (see next page). List the
vastest States. List the smallest ones. Which of them would you like to
visit? Why?
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8. READING: Study the text and answer the questions:
A. What are the smallest signs of love to the UK that the Americans
display?
B. What reasons for hate are given in the text?
C. What are the reasons for loving the UK that the Americans
have?
D. How did the Brits culturally invade the USA?
E. How were the political relationships changing over time?
F. What can cinema tell about the relationships of the two
countries?
97
English in America
Cricket and cucumber sandwiches in Hollywood come to mind, with an
English actor like David Niven (in his autobiography The Moon’s a
Balloon, 1972) left wondering why he is able to find work with not much
talent to draw on besides a cute accent. Or the life, death, traveling exhibits
and collectibles of Diana Windsor, part of a surrogate royal family for
Americans, who, like the Peter Sellars character in Being There (1979), just
like to watch.
But the English in America have not merely been aristocrats, and their
country is more than fodder for public broadcasting, like Masterpiece
Theater, in which England is portrayed as fundamentally white with rather
quaint and even charming ideas about class divisions. Americans often
respond viscerally to such television fare. Indeed, the Republican Party’s
assault on public broadcasting has had some genealogical connection with
the old mid-western populist and middle-American suspicion of things
British.
The United States has had a love–hate relationship with the country
from which it sprung in revolution and from which many claim descent, and
the English in America have needed to learn the nature of this relationship
as they endeavor to exploit the country to their full advantage. The hate part
is clearly understood–revolution is a source of powerful animus indeed.
Additionally the largest immigrant groups in the United States were the
descendants of Irish and Germans, the former linked to anticolonial
nationalism and the latter from a nation that contested European sovereignty
Later, immigrants from British colonies–South Asia, the Caribbean, Hong
Kong–also have ambivalent feelings towards the English.
Love came from sharing constitutional ideas with the British, and from
fighting alongside them in two world wars (though the first one saw
Americans shedding their blood in defense of the British Empire in the most
unpopular war ever fought by the US). Since the Second World War, and
certainly since the Suez crisis, Britain has been a junior partner, a base for
American planes and cruise missiles. Americans have felt fairly comfortable
envisioning Britain as a former empire, seeing themselves as the inheritors
of British global dominance. Hence Americans could buy London Bridge
and rebuild it in the middle of a desert (even if it turned out to be the wrong
bridge). And if a Margaret Thatcher was still a potent enough force to
motivate a wimpy president to go to war with a tin-pot dictator, so much the
better.
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But wealthy English speculators, under the cloak of their irrelevance,
also sneaked into the United States during the 1980s to buy up major parts
of American real estate–newspapers, companies, banks. While Americans
were anxiously eyeing the Japanese and Germans, the English undertook far
larger transactions of their own. Indeed, Thatcher’s virtually bankrupt
Britain became a profitable haven for privateers who could play on the
markets across the ocean.
But perhaps “the Brits” felt that this was merely payment for the debt
the United States owed them in the realm of popular music and culture.
Apart from highbrow television, the English invasion was most noticeable
from the mid-1960s to the present in wave after wave of innovative music.
Beginning with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, following through the
psychedelic bands like Pink Floyd and Yes, through singer/songwriters as
diverse as David Bowie (who became closely involved with artists
producing the Philadelphia sound), Elton John and Joan Armatrading, and
continuing with a dissonant crash with the punk excesses of the Sex Pistols,
the English contribution to American music has been profound, in many
instances fitting within the process of co-opting and commercializing
African American music. The success of Mike Myers’ spoof on 1960s
Britain in the “Austin Powers” movies pays tribute, in a rather warped way
to this legacy
The excesses of Thatcher and Reagan have given way to the centrists
Bill Clinton and Tony Blair. The old partnership of the 1950s has been
revived, with Blair coming to the support of Clinton at every available
opportunity and Clinton returning the favor whenever this might be of use to
the prime minister.
Moreover, the old 1890s liaison—the “cute accent” gets the “AllAmerican girl”—has returned as a match too. The hugely successful Four
Weddings and a Funeral (1994) established a template for the AngloAmerican, all-white lovefest. This was then repeated in James Cameron’s
(1997) remake of “Love Boat”, with a sinking feeling, followed by The
Parent Trap remake (1998), in which it was shown that Americans and
English truly were very rich twins divided at birth. The love affair has been
reprised once again in the whitest Notting Hill (1999) ever captured on
camera. Of course, this celebration of Anglo-American hegemony forgets
one important fact: the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank.
(Encyclopedia of contemporary American culture / ed. by G.W. McDonogh, R. Gregg,
and C. H. Wong. NY: Routledge, 2001. 1330 p.)
ROBERT GREGG
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9. SPEAKING: How would you characterize the relationships
between the USA and Russia in their political, cultural and mass media
aspects? Supply your arguments with the examples.
10. GRAMMAR: Read the text. Fill the gaps with the prepositions.
ASL (American Sign Language)
Language primarily used by deaf Americans, based 1)__ hand shape,
location, movement and expression augmented 2)___ finger spelling.
Adapted 3)___ French models in the nineteenth century (and completely
distinct 4)___British signing), sign language was also repressed 5)___
institutions which denigrated it as broken communication and sought 6)___
force the deaf to read lips and vocalize. Since the 1980s, it has been
increasingly recognized as a complex language, the structure and
expressiveness 7)___ which differs from English. It has become a sign of
community 8)___ the deaf; hearing speakers study it as a recognized foreign
language 9)___ universities and community programs. Estimates of signers
in the US vary widely from several hundred thousand 10)__ 2 million.
(Encyclopedia of contemporary American culture / ed. by G.W. McDonogh, R. Gregg, and
GARY McDONOGH, CINDY WONG
C. H. Wong. NY: Routledge, 2001. 1330 p.)
11. SPEAKING: In pairs, compare and contrast BSL and ASL.
Which of them might be easier for you to study and why?
12. WRITING: Compose a written summary of the following article
in Russian. Follow the rendering scheme from the Appendix. Do not
translate the whole text.
6 things Deaf activist Nyle DiMarco wants you
to know about sign language
You may know Nyle DiMarco from America's Next Top Model, where
he was crowned the victor of the show's 22nd season, in 2015. You may
have seen DiMarco demonstrate perfect rhythm on Dancing With the Stars,
where he went home with yet another grand prize. DiMarco, in short, is a
winner.
But DiMarco, who is deaf, believes he owes his good fortune in life to a
childhood experience: learning language – both spoken and signed – at an
early age. Language acquisition, he says, helped him understand and engage
with the world, which led to life-changing educational opportunities.
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