Exam Review - Western Culture
文学社活动-湖北省大学排名
Exam Review - Western Culture
The
simplest thing to say is
afternoon'
to one
whom you know only slightly.
Now. What do
you say, if someone says..
“How are you?”
“What’s up?”
“Hey, it’s been a while! What
have you been up too?”
When to shake
hands?
● When you meet someone for the first
time
● In a business setting
● When you
don’t know the person very well
● Opposite sex
Using the person’s name:
● It’s
always VERY appreciated to remember someone’s
name.
● Use the family name if the person is
older or if you are in a business setting.
(Examples: “Hello Mr Jiggles, I’m sorry Miss
Jackson)
● Use the first name, if you feel
comfortable doing so. (Hi Peter! Sup’ Paul!
Morning Mary!)
Introducing people:
The general rule is:
● Introduce other
people to the person you wish to honor or feel
welcome.
● Always make sure elders and women
are introduced first.
Invitation
●
Foreign customs are somewhat stricter than Chinese
customs when it comes
to replying to
invitations.
● It is imperative to reply to an
invitation to say whether you will be coming or
not, especially if you received a card.
●
If the invitation was less formal (by phone, text
message, word of mouth etc.)
just let the
person know the same way you were told.
● If
you don’t the person might take it personally and
not invite you again! :(
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Types of family
Traditional
Single
Parent
Step Family (Step
BrotherMotherSisterFather)
Foster
Adopted
What does it mean?
- “Tied the
knot”
- Surrogate mother
- In vitro
- C-section
- Unofficial wedding
-
To give a toast
As of 2014, same-sex
marriage is allowed in
Argentina, Belgium,
Brazil, Canada, Denmark,
France, Iceland,
Netherlands, New
Zealand,
Norway,
Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, United
Kingdom,
Uruguay
and some parts of
Mexico and the United States.
-----
Food
Why are restaurant tables
different in the West (smaller in square) from in
China
(bigger and round)?
Vocabulary:
StarterMain Course CheeseDessert - order in which
it is served to
everyone at the table: no main
course is brought until everyone finished the
starter
for example.
Food in Europe
is taken very seriously, especially in France
where workers all get a
break from 12pm to
2.30pm, but not to nap like Chinese people love
to!
Instead they would usually spend lunch
break socializing talking about family, work,
life, love, anything!
The food that
you order should be just enough so that, at the
end of the meal, you
should feel not too
stuffy, nor hungry, just satisfied.
If you
aren’t very hungry, don’t sweat it!
It’s
quite common that people only order a main course
and skips the starter &
dessert.
Even
if the attitude is “to each their own” Westerners
usually discuss the menu
before ordering and
ask each other what they are thinking of ordering
etc.
“What are you going to have Suzie?”
“The fish looks pretty good...or the lamb!
What are you getting?”
“Probably the same as
usual. The House Burger, my favorite burger in
town!”
Or even ask the waiter:
“Excuse me, what would you recommend?
What are the House’s specialties?”
-----
FIlMS- some differences
Censorship:
no nudity, a lot of taboos, limiting the
director’s freedom
Creativity: easier to guess
the end of a Chinese movie
Budget: less
capital than Hollywood films, cutting back on
special effects, costumes,
skilled employees…
Chinese people seem to prefer movies or TV
shows about history and war. While
Americans
prefer stories about the future. Why?
Americans have less history than Chinese. Less
creativity is needed to shoot a story
that
already exists. A smaller budget is required to
film a story with little special
effects.
How can we know if a movie is worth watching?
● Online rankings: IMDB (anyone), Rotten
Tomatoes (Professionals)
● Ceremonies: Oscars,
Bafta, Festival de Cannes
● Word of mouth
● Trailers
● Directors, actors…
●
Personal tastes
● Based on true events
● …
-----
Western Countries
•
Originally situated in Western Europe
• Now
also including the USA, Canada, Australia and New-
Zealand due to past
ties.
• Tied to
Western Philosophy – Ancient Greece: Plato,
Socrates & Aristotle
Some aspects
1.
Modern Economy - Industrialism
2. A language
derived from ancient Roman or Greek
3. A
belief in Christianity ( e.g holidays)
4. A
belief in democracy - vote
5. A belief in a
secular government
6. A belief in a -
corruption
7. A belief in human rights
NB
Secular state: When a country is
officially neutral in matters of religion,
supporting
neither religion nor irreligion.
Don’t get confused with Western countries’
belief in Christianity!
Western
Countries are fundamentally Christian (Christmas,
Easter etc…) but do not
judge or persecute a
citizen preaching another belief
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France: culture and business
French are extremely proud
• Study prior
to trip, if possible
• If not, learn the
basics “Bonjour, Merci, Au Revoir”
• Apologize
for lack of fluency
• Less firm and quicker
handshake than Americans
• MonsieurMadame +
family name and “Vous”
• Tone down make-up and
heavy jewelry and wear sober colors (Chanel)
•
Converse rather than lecture, take your time
Gift giving
• Wine= Always try to buy the
most expensive you can afford
• Chocolates =
Belgium or Swiss only
Flowers
• No
Chrysanthemum (death)
• No Red Roses
(Valentine’s, lovers etc.)
• No Yellow flowers
= adultery
• No Perfume (too personal, imply
the person smells)
Better to bring something
from your own country, French people are very
curious of
others’ culture and would love the
attention.
Eating
• Long Business
Lunches (2+ hours) may not involve talking about
business at
all but build relationships
•
Appetizer, main meal, cheese, dessert with wine
and coffee
• Don’t start eating until the host
says “Bon Appetit”
• If travelling outside
Paris be sure to research the local specialties to
know
more about what will be served and
impress your host (pictures)
•
Famous for: Duopoly with Boeing
• A380 –
double decker
•
Famous for: 4th largest retail group in the world
(after Walmart, Tesco,
Costco)
• China:
Lost its 1st position to RT mart in 2008
• World first dairy products
producer, 2nd Water producer (Evian)
• China:
51% holding in Wahaha Joint Venture Company
Cars
Attitude
• Eye
contact, Good Posture, Hands out of pocket
•
Be Careful of Some Gestures
• Doing the “OK”
sign = zero
• Touching face = I’m bored
•
Slapping top of wrist = I’m leaving
• Kissing
is for friends and family
• Tapping on the
hand or back is friendly
• When you get closer
with work colleagues you can “faire la bise”.
• Wait for a female colleague to initiate
England: culture and business
Do:
£ Stand in line
£ Take off your
hat when indoors
£ Cover your mouth when
yawning or coughing
£ Shake hands
£ Drive
on the left side of the road
Don’ts:
£
Greet people with a kiss unless it’s family or
close friends
£ Put your hat on the table
£ Talk loudly in public
£ Stare at others
£ Ask personal and intimate questions
Good Luck:
£ Lucky to meet a black cat
£ Lucky to touch wood
£ Lucky to find a
clover plant with four leaves.
£ A right way
up horseshoe on the door brings good luck (like a
“U”)
£ Catch falling leaves in autumn and
you're have good luck.
Bad Luck:
£
Unlucky to walk underneath a ladder
£ Seven
years bad luck to break a mirror
£ Unlucky to
spill salt. If you do, you must throw it over your
shoulder
to counteract the bad luck
£
Unlucky to open an umbrella in doors.
£ The
number thirteen is unlucky
Friday the
thirteenth is a double unlucky day because Jesus
was crucified on a
Friday.
£ The
English are renowned for their politeness and
courtesy
£ Direct questions often receive
evasive responses
.
£ It is important
to pay attention to tone of voice and facial
expression, as this
may be an indication of
what is really meant.
Research shows that
40% of discoveries taken up worldwide originated
in Britain,
here are a couple examples:
I.
1698: The first steam engine by Jim Watt (gave his
name to the measure of
power)
II. 1804:
The first locomotive by Dick Trevithick
III.
1821: Mike Faraday invents the electric motor
IV. 1824: Joe Aspden invents cement
V.
1829: England formed the first Police force
VI.
VII.
VIII.
The
following sports were also invented in the UK:
-Golf in 1502
-Cricket in 1787
-Football in 1863
-Badminton in 1887
-Rugby in 1871
-Table tennis in 1880
-Bungee jumping in 1979
USA: culture
and business
Who are Americans?
• Native
Americans
• Immigrants from every nation of
the world
Irish-Americans, Native-Americans,
African Americans, Asian Americans,
Italian-
Americans, Caucasians…
• The great
‘melting pot’
• New-York , 8 million people:
800 languages = most linguistically diverse
city in the world
Most Americans
Believe in God
Believe religious freedom is
important
Are patriotic
Believe in the
individual rights
Believe all people deserve
rights: Bill of rights 1791 > Freedom of religion
and
speech (number 3) > People to keep and
bear arms (number 5)
Believe in independence
Believe the government is there to serve them
TIPS
American people value
straight talking and 'getting to the point'.
Respect is earned through clear achievements
rather than through age or
background.
Americans often misunderstand self-
depreciation as a sign of weakness.
Remember
that time is money in the States - wasting
people's time through
vagueness will annoy
them.
Dress code in the States is very
variable - check on the appropriate mode before
departure.
• East = formal West =
informal
• Executives usually dress formally
anywhere.
1925: TV invented by Scotsman John
Baird
1979: The first MP3 that later developed
into Apple’s Ipod was patented by
Kane Kramer
1989: World Wide Web invented by Tim Berners
• Casual Friday is very common
everywhere.
• High tech companies often wear
casual clothes every day.
• Americans like to
show their status through what they are wearing
(the
price of a suit) > Spend as much as you
can afford to on a suit.
• Americans know the
price and quality of good suits and ties and like
to
compliment each other.
Structure
proposals to emphasize quick wins (short term)
rather than long-term
objectives
•
Elevator Pitch -------------
Short summary
used to quickly and simply to define a product,
service, organization
or event and its value
proposition in under 2 minutes.
At a
Business Meeting
• Arrive on time
• Sales
pitch > lecturing rather than conversing
•
Focus on getting a contract signed, the
relationship may develop thereafter
• The
handshake is the common greeting.
Business breakfasts are common.
Business
lunches can last up to two hours.
The person
extending the invitation usually pays.
If the
host offers a toast to you, be sure to reciprocate
later in the meal.
Business entertaining is
as varied. It can be in the form of cocktail
parties, golf
games, barbecues, formal or
casual dinners.
Americans use credit cards
debit cards to pay
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Questions?