Where do you stand?- Lisa Davis

 Where do you stand?- Lisa Davis

          In this essay the writer is trying to show how the body position can have non- verbal communication. Through the position of the body, the people also communicated their cultural differences not only between the countries but also within the same country.

          The people from Middle East make physical intimacy where the Americans maintain a distance. When a businessman of Middle East steps forward, the American steps backward as far as possible.

          The difference of personal space is within access. The male and the female of the same location show different physical intimacy. The female would like to come quite closer than the males.

          The cultural differences can be seen in classroom environment. The American culture teaches the students to make a direct eye contact with the teacher whereas the Asian student feels it as disrespect to the teachers. On the other hand an American teacher feels it as insult if the students break the eye contact. Similarly, a Japanese unless feel quite uncomfortable when his American partner deals with him informal manner.

Key points.

a)      Americans use more eye contact than do the Japanese.

b)    South Americans conjure at a close distance then do the northern Europeans.

c)     Saudi Arabians show more physical contact than the Americans. They show intimacy by holding hands walk in the street joining the hands but the American hate it.

d)    Men keep greater distance than the women and women tend to make more eye contact than the man.

e)     The Asian try to understand a person through sense perception and they go quite close to a person but the Americans try to understand through gestures.

f)      The Asian students show respect to the teacher by breaking the direct eye contact with the teacher there as the western students maintains it through direct eye contact.

Main theme

          Where do you stand? Is an essay by Lisa Davis in which she is focusing on the importance of intercultural studies, specially the location of the body. It is obvious the meaning of the body differs from culture to culture group to group within a country even between the gender and so on, there is a greater chance at misunderstanding about body position and consequently there is a disaster in order to prevent the misunderstanding at the detail It is necessary to study inter-cultural practices.

          In the present time the entire world has became a global village and the people have earn inter-cultural practices to avoid the possible misunderstanding, specially the people of business world are prone to each misunderstanding. They have to deal with people from different world and might be showing the sense of intimacy but the same manner might be unnatural for the others.For example holding hands is a sign of showing affection to the other in the eastern culture but they look really unnatural in American culture , similarly making on eye contact with the teacher or concern person is a sign of respect in American cultural Whereas it is a sign of disrespect in eastern culture. If a Nepalese student those to Americans classes he finds the classroom environment really strange unless he is given the version of intercultural studies.

          Therefore the unlike justifies the need for inter-culture studies has became essential part in the modern situation especially with globalization. It would be much easier for the people of alliance culture to appreciate the culture of the other people of they know that keeping physical intimacy and despair differs from people to people.

Time Talks with an Accent - Robert Levine

 Time Talks with an Accent - Robert Levine

          In his essay Robert Levine discusses about cultural differences in regards with the concept of time and the intercultural misunderstandings and conflicts that owns the variations in the temporal concept of time.

This essay is based on the personal experience of the writer himself, as a writing professor at Brazil. In the essay he discusses about the difficulties he had had in a college to a new concept of social time, which reflects different cultural beliefs, assumption and values then he was habitual in his native country i.e. us. After his experience with Brazilian student teachers and other people, the writer realized that the people did have different concept and values about the time. These people were unable to materialize the time and follow its pace.

        Unlike American students, the Brazilian student ignored the time value and came in the class, without hesitation, even long after the commencement of the class. Besides they were in no hurry after leaving the class for they surrounded the teacher for a long time. Moreover the writer also found that even the professions were not punctual. They made the guilty for turning up late likewise his experience with the landlord suggested the same. Although he waited for him for a long time, he was unable to meet him, Undoubtedly the people of Brazil make apartments but they never travel themselves respecting the valves of time obviously they understand their social time but it make a great confusion to the people like the writers, who is accustomed to the exactness of the time.

 

·       As a child, the thought that time was measured by a clock but later in his maturity he know that it was measured by culture.

·       As a writing prof. he knew that Brazilians Report everything for tomorrow. ‘Amanha” was highly valued in their culture.

·       He also noticed that exactness of the time was not possible in Brazil. The people had their own concept of time and them more accordingly.

·       The Brazilians didn’t have the concept of early and late. They seem almost indifferent to the valve of time.

·       Not only were the students, the prof. also indifferent to the value of time. They were found of making appointments but never turn up on time.

·       The writers also noticed the high people or the landlords display their value by not being punctual. He waited for his landlord for more than two hours but the landlord didn’t wait for him even for the minutes.

·       In conclusion he realized that Brazilian concept of time was taking. They wasted their time in talking.

·       Levin in this narrating essay describes cultural differences in concept of time and inter cultural conflict and misunderstanding that after worries from these temporal variations. In order to enhance the intercultural experience Levine stresses the importance of learning unwritten rules about time in a new culture.

·       Levine in this essay means that rules of punctuality are strongly shaped by cultural values and believes.

·       Levine clarifies the concept of social time and says that social time is a cultural tempo. Orientation reflects unconscious values believes and rules. The components of social time and concept of punctuality, pace of life and orientation of past, present and future are discussed.

·       Adjusting to a forming concept of time is different because it reflects values, believes and rules that are after very different from those of the writers culture and that are unwritten or hidden.

·       In this place of writing Robort Levine maintains that there are cultural differences in concept of time reflecting values and believes which often lead to intercultural conflict and misunderstanding. By learning about a new cultures pace of life rules of partiality and orientation to past, present and future a writer can minimize problems and facilitate cultural adjustments.

TU BA 2nd year Compulsory English 202

Polite But Thirsty - By: Yaping Tang

Polite But Thirsty - By: Yaping Tang

In this essay “Polite but Thirsty” the writer has explained some of the cultural variations in between Chinese and American society. Especially she has tried to make the Chinese students aware about the American culture so that they could be adopted very easily in American culture.

Usually a new comer feels like a baby or an idiot in a new culture because of culture misunderstanding. There are several language problems but in addition to this the cultural differences make the problem even worse. Thus it is necessary to learn the cultural differences. The writer found some fundamentals differences between the Chinese and the American cultures.

a)     The Chinese classrooms are in proper discipline. There are certain rooms and values of the classrooms that they aren’t allowed to anything but in American classroom the students eat like in a canteen. As an eastern student, it was really a strange experience and a great adventure to be adopted in the American classroom.

b)    The second fundamental differences that the writer noticed were the directness of American people. They responded just in two ways; Yes or No.  They never show the so-called politeness which is highly esteemed eastern culture.

c)     The American people believe in the informality. They break the hierarchies and treat every individual equally. They address even their professor by their first name without adding the title Sir/Madam.

d)    The Americans never hide their feelings when someone praises the food, the house, the cloth, etc. They never reject it but rather they accept it happily which is very much ware in the eastern culture.

e)     The Americans open the gifts just in front of the host, he opens it and praises by heart but it is taken as uncivilized manner in the east. In eastern culture, gifts are given usually at the end of the party and they are opened after the departures of the guest.

f)      In American societies tipping system is highly popular as even as it is taken as necessary work in a restaurant. But in eastern society especially in China leaving a tip is rarely found. The Chinese students are ashamed when they aren’t leaving the tip to the workers. In this way Yaping Tang has tried to ease the problems of Chinese students in America. Her main intention is to reduce the cultural misunderstanding and to enable the Chinese students to learn the American culture before they come to America.

 

·  Cross cultural differences in the United States and China.

ü Informality / formality

ü Equality / social hierarchy

ü Direction / indirection

 

-         Self asserts / modern

·        Culture shocks – feeling of love and change and so suffering – food, climate, language, mannerism, communication

Symptoms of culture shocks:

          Absent, mindedness a feeling of hopelessness, fits of anger, excessive fear of being cheated, robbed or ignored, homesickness.

Friends And Strangers - Margaret R. Nydell

 Friends And Strangers - Margaret R. Nydell

This essay studies the intercultural differences is relation with the concept of friends and strangers in American culture and in Arabian culture. In Arabian culture there is gap between friends and strangers. There are certain rights and duties in a friendship a stranger is neither alone for rights nor he is offered any duties. In Arabian culture refusing a friend as taken out breaking the friendship even if the work is impossible to perform, a friend never refuses it directly this response is “I will try my best”. This response from a friend keeps the friendship alive forever

          An Arabian culture personal benefits is taken from the friendship we often here “Do it for my sake” but in American culture no benefit is expected from the friendship even if a persona is helped by the other he is not morally obliged to help him.

          The personal choice is so much valued that even the children aren’t obliged to take care of their parents in American culture, personal details are much more important than a person himself. They readily disclose their social and economic backgrounds. In contrast to Arabian culture, the Americans are unwilling to disclose their personal details and individual is much more important than his background.

          An Arabian culture insulting the friends is frequent without information they used their friends and story there as a long as they please. They do not feel that they are interfering their personal life.  Being alone is taken as either being dissatisfied or being sad but in American culture privacy is highly valued. A person likes to have a moment of privacy so that they could feel oneself with their self. Besides the Americans enjoy being with the friends but they never let them cross the boundary of personal life.

          These are some of the differences between the Arabians and the Americans concept of friendship. The Arabians have distinctly the line between friends and strangers but the Americans have blurred the line.

-         For Arabs a friend is someone whose company one enjoys and whose duty is to give help and do his/her ability whereas for westerners a friend is someone whose company one enjoys but whom one doesn’t except to have the same sense of duty.

-         For Arabs and oral promise has its own value as response whereas for westerners actions are valued more than words.

-         For Arabs loyalty is expected from friends but westerns don’t accept the same sense of loyalty.

-         In the culture of Arabs when introducing oneself it is common to give a lot of information about oneself from a one’s family and one social connection where as in westerns culture less personal information are disclosed.

-         In the culture of Arabs one writes one's friends often and has little concern about privacy where as in western culture one just writes ones friend less after and has a strong sense of privacy.

-         Arab people, except a friend to reciprocate invitation but the western people don’t have as strong of a need for reciprocal invitation.

A Coward - Premchand

 A Coward - Premchand

In the story, a coward, Premchand shows how cultural difference within a conflict creates problem among the people who live in the same society. Basically the Hindu cast system has created problems among the people in case of marriage. Moreover, the gap between a traditional mind and the modern mind devide the people clearly in to opposite pose. Most of the people still stick to their conservative beliefs due to which the gap has always remained unfulfilled. In the story, Keshav a Brahmin boy falls in love with Prema a girl from Banya caste. In the beginning Keshav seems to be very strong because he is ready to undergo any hardships that might come on his way. He convinced Prema to be bold and fight against the conservative mind. Prema, who is loyal to her parents, doesn’t close to against them. However she doesn’t share to live her life without Keshav as Prema goes home. She thinks about Keshav and collects her strength to tell her relationship with Keshav to her parents. In the beginning her parents rejects it strongly but they agreed when she put her life at stake. Prema’s father went to talk with Keshav’s  father, who reacted very rudely to him. However he tolerated being the father of a girl. Then Prema wrote a letter to Keshav informing him that she was ready to undergo to any shorts of difficulties if he was ready to accept her as his life partner. She also wrote that her parents were eager to meet him and he was called for dinner. Prema waits for Keshav impatiently but neither he nor his letter comes only the next morning Prema gets the letter of Keshav in which she finds him unexpectedly coward and disloyal. Her parents ask her about his response but she tells them nothing she hides her pain the whole day and the next morning she commits suicide.

          In this way this story shows the cultural problems of the same society due to the conservative feelings of the people. The lover like Prema and Keshav are very much frequent in our society too and they are killing themselves due to the fear of social parts which are almost impossible for them to cross.