Bridging Cultural Gaps Gracefully

--An American in ChinaIn-Class Reading

Brain storming “cultural gaps”

A quick review on Chinese culture / customs…

• of seeing guests off• when being complimented for (cooking skills) • of talking about their children• before accepting an offer (i.e. food )

Pre-reading

P233: Post-Reading: Reading Comprehension 1

Read the passage aloud to yourself and raise questions

A structural study---what an American woman

experienced in China

Based onP233: Post-Reading: Reading Comprehension

1

Topic sentence (para. 1)

It’s rather difficult for a foreigner to slip into a culture without all his foreignness exposed.

---How can you interpret it?

Supporting evidence:1) Parting customs in China (para. 1--7) i) p1-3 One custom: The host and hostess sh

ould say to guests words and phrases that will ___________________________and make them feel ______________________________.

the author’s problem: _______________ her solution: At first she often hide behind h

er husband and then she gradually picked up _________________

smooth over the visitors’ leaving

they will be welcome to come again

She constantly found herself tongue-tied

the words and phrases

Supporting evidence:1) Parting customs in China (para. 1--7)ii) P4-8 Another custom: The host and hostes

s feel they must see a guest off to the farthest feasible point except __________________________________.

A problem she met with as a guest: She tried to ________________________________, but failed.

Her conclusion: It’s better to __________________________________.

those less important or younger visitors

discourage the host and hostess from seeing her off

accept the inevitable

Supporting evidence:2) Chinese modesty vs. American straightforwardness (para. 9-12)i) At a party when complimented for cookin

g skills A Chinese host or hostess will appear to be

modest and apologize for __________________________________ and for _______________________________________.

An American hostess is likely to say, “________________________________________”

giving “nothing” even slightly edible

not showing enough honor by providing proper dishes

Oh, I’m so glad that you liked it. I cooked it especially for you.

Supporting evidence:2) Chinese modesty vs. American straightforw

ardness (para. 8-12)ii) When talking about their childrenChinese parents will say that their children, even

if at the top of their class in school, are ____________________________________ and so forth. (examples?)

American parents will straightforwardly speak proudly of their children’s ________________

always so “naughty”, never studying, never listening to their elders

achievements

Supporting evidence:

2) Chinese modesty vs. American straightforwardness (para. 8-12)

iii) Hearing the word “no” A Chinese will not take it ________________ An American will take it to mean _________

the first time

“no”

An extra question:

Why do you think that Chinese hold the modesty value while Americans are straightforward?

understanding in communication (why and how) course of competition (fair play or not) inner fear …

Conclusion (para. 13)

Life becomes much easier once you have studied up on

_______________________cultural differences

What else do you think we need to study up to make life easier in the globalized economical and cultural world?

Culture shock

Culture shock is the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, etc.) felt when people have to operate within a different and unknown culture such as one may encounter in a foreign country. It grows out of the difficulties in assimilating the new culture, causing difficulty in knowing what is appropriate and what is not. This is often combined with a dislike for or even disgust (moral or aesthetical) with certain aspects of the new or different culture.

3 stages of culture shock

The shock often consists of distinct phases: --Honeymoon Phase --Negotiation Phase --Adjustment Phase though not everyone passes through these phases and

not everyone is in the new culture long enough to pass through all three.

Reverse Culture Shock (returning to one's home culture after growing accustomed to a new one can produce the same effects as described above)

• Which stage (honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment) do you think she was going through in para. 1 and para. 13?

• Try to find out her solutions about how to overcome the culture shock for other Americans who first came to China.

Language study

Find out all the difficult sentences & expressions

Questions from you are expected

Exercises

Vocabulary & translation