American Culture
Name 3 American Holidays
New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31), Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14), Easter (March or April), Independence Day (July 4th), Halloween (Oct. 31), Thanksgiving (End of Nov.), Christmas (Dec. 25th)
Name 3 things in your life which are affected by your culture
Clothing styles, how you greet people, where family members live, beliefs about work, holidays, body language, religion, gender roles, food, etc.
What is intonation? Give an example.
The rise and fall of the voice in speaking which is used to communicate information.
Asking questions, giving commands, etc.
What are the 6 stages of culture shock?
1. Preliminary Stage
2. Initial Euphoria/ Honeymoon phase
3. Irritability
4. Gradual Adjustment
5. Adaptation
6. Re-entry/ Reverse culture shock
Name three Western superstitions
Black cats, walking under ladders, stepping on a crack, Friday the 13th, spilling salt, etc.
Describe an example of American body language
Eye Contact, Personal Space, Active Listening, and Smiling
What are high context cultures and low context cultures?
Low context: We speak in a straightforward manner and place value in “meaning what we say” and “being taken at our word.” The individual is most important.
High context: "Our speech changes depending on who we’re talking to and how we fit into relationships with those people." The groups is most important.
What languages does English come from?
Old English/German and French/Latin
What are some symptoms of culture shock?
- Homesickness
- Feeling depressed or isolated
- Anxiety
- Strange sleep patterns
What does the expression "To have the Midas Touch" mean?
Meaning: everything you touch is successful or makes a lot of money. Comes from the myth of King Midas.
What are some safe and unsafe conversation topics in American Culture?
Safe: Weather, Family, Sports/Movies/Television shows, Hobbies and interests, Favorite (food, book, etc), Good news
Unsafe: Age, Salary, Single or Married, Religion, Politics, The news, Weight/Appearance, Race
What is globalization?
Globalization is a word used to describe the growing interdependence of the world's economies, cultures, and populations, brought about by cross-border trade in goods and services, technology, and flows of investment, people, and information.
What is reduced speech? Give an example.
Reduced speech is an informal pronunciation pattern that is used when speaking in casual situations. This occurs when sounds are deleted, combined, or not pronounced clearly.
What can cause culture shock?
- Information overload
- Language barriers
- Lack of support from friends and family
- Confusion due to different cultural ideas or values
What should you say after an American sneezes?
Bless you!
Where do American values come from?
The "Founding Fathers" and the Declaration of Independence
What is a "melting pot"?
The definition of a melting pot is a place where different people or different cultures all come together and begin to merge and mix. America is an example of a melting pot where immigrants and people from all over the world visit and live and share thoughts and ideas to create one big new culture.
What are content words? What are function words?
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are content words which give meaning to a sentence. Function words are words that exist to explain or create grammatical or structural relationships in a sentence. Words like "of," "the," "to," they have little meaning on their own.
What activities can help you manage culture shock?
- Exercise
- Cook food from home
- Stay in touch with friends/family
- Challenge yourself
- Make a local friend
Name a famous American author
Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin, Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, etc.
Give examples of American values
Equality Independence, Privacy, Achievement, Punctuality, Informality, Directness, Future Orientation
What is "phatic communication"?
Phatic communication, sometimes called “small talk”, is the use of language to share feelings or establish a mood of sociability, rather than to communicate information or ideas.
How is stress used in English?
English is a stress-timed language. That means that stressed syllables appear at a roughly steady tempo, whereas non-stressed syllables are shortened.
Name 3 differences between American universities and Chinese universities.
See article
What does the idiom "use your noodle" mean?
Use your brain or think hard