CULTURE

OPENER: CULTURE SHOCK?Have you ever experienced culture shock?

Explain the situation and how you felt. What do we respond to when we experience ‘culture shock’?

EXAMPLES OF CULTURE SHOCK: Describe the culture shock: what caused the ‘shock’?

How did they respond to the culture shock?

Doing Fieldwork Among the Yanomamo

Culture Shock Linked to Deaths of Refugees

OPENER: FLAGS AS SYMBOLS 1. What does the American flag symbolize? 2. What does the Confederate flag symbolize?

UNIT 2: CULTURECulture is a way of life

Culture is shared by members of a society Culture shapes how we act, think, and feel

Culture is human—it is a product of evolution

1. SYMBOLS Symbols in the form of words, gestures, and actions express meaning

1. SYMBOLS (FROM CLASS) Uncle Sam

;)

Gang signs

Hug

“Ok” symbol

Peace sign

<3

Yin-Yang symbol

Deathly hallows symbol

Apple

#

Pride flag

Snapchat ghost

Breast cancer ribbon

Twitter bird

Instagram camera

Street signs/stop signs/caution signs

2. LANGUAGE A symbolic system by which one generation transmits culture to the next.

2. LANGUAGE (FROM CLASS) Lol

Omg

Bae

Tbh

Merch

Shade

Raining cats and dogs

What’s up?

Finna

Yolo

Music

Turn up

Text lingo generally

Slang generally

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OPENER Read the passage, ”Too Hot for Hockey,” aloud to your partner

Complete the survey on the back of the worksheet

Questions to consider: How does language influence culture? How does culture influence language? What does language transmit?

WBEZ https://soundcloud.com/curiouscity/annie-minoff-accents-feature

Is having an accent important? How do regional accents impact our national culture?

LANGUAGE Page 46

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE Ya’aburnee (Arabic): “You bury me.” It’s a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person, because of how difficult it would be to live without them.

The online dictionary that lists this word calls it “morbid and beautiful.” It’s the “How Could I Live Without You?” slickly insincere cliché of dating, polished into a more earnest, poetic term.  

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE Forelsket: (Norwegian):  The euphoria you experience when you’re first falling in love.

This is a wonderful term for that blissful state, when all your senses are acute for the beloved, the pins and needles thrill of the novelty. There’s a phrase in English for this, but it’s clunky. It’s “New Relationship Energy,” or NRE.

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE Yuanfen (Chinese): A relationship by fate or destiny. This is a complex concept. It draws on principles of predetermination in Chinese culture, which dictate relationships, encounters and affinities, mostly among lovers and friends.

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE Pena ajena (Mexican Spanish): The embarrassment you feel watching someone else's humiliation

______________________________________________________________ Is it important that some phrases are not able to be translated easily into English?

How do these phrases or words reveal elements of the culture of the speakers?

LANGUAGE AND POWER: SWEARING AND INSULTS

Are there any trends among the words we use to insult people?

Think of insults that you use regularly. What is the LITERAL meaning of the words? What are implied insult or FIGURATIVE meaning of the words? Do these insults impact our culture as a whole?

LOADED LANGUAGE “You guys”

Mailman

Freshman

Fireman

Mankind

“This sucks”

The “F” word

“Retarded”

USING ACCURATE AND CONSIDERATE LANGUAGE “What boy/girl are you bringing to the dance?” “Are you bringing a date?”

“He’s being a little b**** about going.” “He’s scared to go.”

“White people are all racist.” “I have personally met several white people who…”

LANGUAGE AND CULTURE CLOSER: What do you lose if you do not speak the native language of a given culture? What do you miss? What interactions become difficult? What might you avoid? Who might you turn to, or tend to interact with?

HOMEWORK:Restaurant observationDue Wednesday, October 15th

3. VALUES Abstract standards of what ought to be

3. VALUES (FROM CLASS) Family and friends: always there

for each other

Giving back to the community

Giving gifts on holidays

Having expensive things

Appreciate what you have

Money

Being respectful

Follow the rules

Respect

Be kind

Education

Following rends

Everyone’s life is valued the same

Technology has all the answers

Talk through issues face to face

Virginity

Save money/financial stability

4. BELIEFS Specific statements that people who share a culture hold to be true

4. BELIEFS (FROM CLASS) Pray (go to church)

Christianity

You should be married before kids/sex

Going to school is important

Pray before eating with family

Different religions

Go to church every Sunday

Haram is a sin

Buddha

If you live a bad life, you pay in the end

An apple a day takes the doctor away

Money and power are important

God

Karma gets you

If you finish college you can get a good career

What goes around comes around

5. NORMS Norms guide human behavior

Mores: have great moral significance Folkways: are matters of everyday politeness

5. NORMS (FROM CLASS) Get to class on time

Say ‘bless you’ if someone sneezes

When someone opens the door for you, say thank you

Manners (saying thank you)

Don’t talk back to parents

Pick something up if someone drops it

Look both ways before you cross the street

Apologizing when you bump into someone

Saying excuse me when someone is in your way

Saying please

Opening the door for someone

Getting up for old people on the bus