Unit Nine

1

• Unit Nine
• Misunderstanding Means
• East-West cultural Clash

2
I. Lead In
II. Read In
2
3
4
5
6
7
0
0
1
8
9
10
III. Summary
IV. Exercises
V. Listening
VI. Testing
3
Culture Shock

• The term was introduced for the first time in
  1958 to describe the anxiety produced when a
  person moves to a completely new environment.
  This term expresses the lack of direction, the
  feeling of not knowing what to do or how to do
  things in a new environment, and not knowing what
  is appropriate or inappropriate.

4
Discussion
Talk about the differences between the eastern
and western countries.

• political
• religious
• cultural

5
Cultural differences

• wedding/funeral ceremony
• behaviour
• colour
• way of talking
• eating habit

6
(No Transcript)
7
Preface

• When people from different cultures met, they
  often misunderstand each other. Have you had such
  an experience? If not, please read the following
  story and draw a lesson from it.

8
Lines 1-7

• The young Chinese tourist sat in a Paris Café
  and ordered tea. Twice he asked for ore hot water
  to top it up while putting the saucer on the cup
  to keep the tea warm, as he would have done at
  home.
• The waiter grew impatient. This Chinese is
  too stingy to pay for more tea. And doesnt he
  know the saucer goes under the cup to catch the
  drips?

9
Lines 1-7

• The waiter grew impatient.

• patient/patience
• impatient/impatience

• be patient with sb.??????

10
Lines 1-7

• This Chinese is too stingy to pay for more tea.

• stingy not generous, especially with money
• mean

A stingy person will not give you anything for
free.
11
Lines 8-11

• The Chinese man noticed the displeasure on
  the waiters face and lost patience himself.
  This Western waiter is really stingy and silly!
  Why is he so reluctant to serve me hot water? Why
  does he put the lid under the cup? he got angry
  and left the café steaming with resentment.

12
Lines 8-11

• Why is he so reluctant to serve me hot water?

• reluctant slow and unwilling

She is reluctant to get up early.
He was reluctant to join us, but he had no choice.
13
Lines 8-11

• He got angry, and left the café steaming with
  resentment.

• resent??, ??

resent/resentment
14
Lines 12-18

• What went wrong? It was, in fact, nothing
  more than a common misunderstanding of other
  peoples customs. The tourist misinterpreted the
  waiters behavior and the waiter misinterpreted
  what, to the customer was a normal request. A
  failure to understand different customs leads to
  misunderstanding.
• The tea incident was an example of
  clashes between the East and the West.

15
Lines 12-18

• The tourist misinterpreted the waiters
  behavior, and the waiter misinterpreted what, to
  the customer, was a normal request.

• misinterpret explain wrongly

Im afraid that he has misinterpreted my meaning.
16
Lines 12-18

• The tea incident was an example of clashes
  between the East and the West.

• incident event happening

Were there any exciting incidents during your
journey?
17
Lines 12-18

• The tea incident was an example of clashes
  between the East and the West.

• clash disagreement conflict

The clash of opinions caused tension in the
meeting room.
clash of interests????
18
Lines 19-26

• A more common example of this clash occurs in
  China when Westerners complain that the Chinese
  are noisy and impolite, and feel uneasy with the
  questions" Where are you from? Where do you
  work? How much do you earn? Are you married?
  One Westerners has described this question and
  answer process as a Laowai (foreigner) Litany.
  Its not surprising that foreigners in China who
  are not familiar with Chinese culture would be
  shocked by the questions and might feel that
  Chinese were meddling in their affairs.

19
Lines 19-26

• when Westerners complain that the Chinese
  are noisy and impolite.

• complain to express feelings of pain,
  dissatisfaction, or resentment

They complained about the food.
He complained that the TV he bought last week had
neither picture nor sound.
20
Lines 19-26

• and feel uneasy with the questions

• uneasy not easy in mind or body

The farmers were uneasy until it finally rained.
Having been turned down again, the young man
began to feel uneasy about his future.
21
Lines 19-26

• and might feel that many Chinese were
  meddling in their affairs.

• meddle take too much interest in interfere

Do not meddle in things that do not concern you.
22
Lines 27-34

• But, there are two sides to this coin. During
  the early days of my European stay, I suffered
  desperately from loneliness and was shocked by
  the apparent indifference Westerners showed to
  each other. My European classmates were certainly
  polite and always said hello to me before class,
  but often disappeared immediately after class.
  They rarely bothered to ask me about my life or
  my country. As a foreigner, I wanted to be asked
  questions. I felt so uneasy with these polite but
  distant hellos that I prayed for a miracle.

23
Lines 27-34

• There are two sides to this coin.

???????????
24
Lines 27-34

• I suffered desperately from loneliness and was
  shocked by the ....

• suffer to feel pain or distress

His friend has suffered from ill health for some
years.
25
Lines 27-34

• and was shocked by the apparent indifference
  Westerners showed to each other.

• indifference lack of interest or concern

It is quite indifferent to me whether you go or
stay.
26
Lines 27-34

• They rarely bothered to ask me about my life
  or my country.

• bother make the effort to do sth.

Why bother to go abroad, when there Are so many
nice places here at home?
27
Lines 35-42

• That miracle occurred one day when I
  volunteered to teach Chinese in a Free Education
  Association. In this way, I finally had a way to
  answer questions my students might have to ask,
  without invading anyones privacy. I come from
  China. I am here to teach you Chinese, because I
  want to get to know you and help you learn about
  my language, my country as well as myself, I
  would say. Then I slowly challenged their privacy
  with questions that Westerners in China knew so
  well. I broke the ice and succeeded in making
  friends thanks to this invasiveness!

28
Lines 35-42

• That miracle occurred one day when I
  volunteered to teach Chinese in a

• volunteer to perform or offer to perform a
  service of one's own free will

Meanwhile, a number of university Students have
volunteered to drive buses while the strike lasts.
29
Lines 35-42

• I finally had a way to answer questions my
  students might have to ask, without invading
  anyones privacy.

• invade get involved in sth. in an unwanted and
  annoying way

We could not invade other persons legal rights.
30
Lines 35-42

• I broke the ice and succeeded in making
  friends thanks to this invasiveness!

• break the ice make people feel more friendly and
  wiling to talk to each other

His arrival broke the ice and people Began to
talk and laugh.
31
Lines 35-42

• I broke the ice and succeeded in making
  friends thanks to this invasiveness!

• thanks to because of on account of

Thanks to your help, we finally finished This
project.
32
Lines 43-54

• Why do Chinese and Westerners have opposite
  behaviour in public and in society? Cultural
  differences partly explain this. Chinese culture
  is founded on collectivism. Instead of
  considering themselves individuals, Chinese are,
  above all, members of a community. They identify
  more with employees of the company, citizens of
  the country, husbands or wives, or fathers. They
  are used to thinking of groups. With this
  community spirit, its not uncommon to approach
  others with questions. So, Where are you from?
  could mean Im interested in you and ready to be
  your friend How much money do you ear? could
  mean If you dont earn enough to feed yourself,
  Im happy to invite you to share my rice
  porridge and Are you married? could mean If
  youre still single, Ill help you find a
  girlfriend.

33
Lines 55-59

• For Chinese, asking a stranger questions is a
  normal way to show sympathy and to invite someone
  to have a friendly conversation. Chinese on a
  10-hour train ride would be considered impolite
  or even arrogant if they refused to ask or answer
  questions. That is why a Chinese train ride is
  always happy and lively for Chinese, but can be
  noisy for a European.

34
Lines 55-59

• is a normal way to show sympathy and to
  invite someone to have a friendly conversation.

• sympathy the act or power of sharing the
  feelings of another

• express sympathy for(?...??)??
• feel sympathy for (have sympathy for)??
• in sympathy with?? ?? ?...??

35
Lines 60-66

• Western culture is based on individualism. A
  westerner sees himself or herself both as an
  individual and member of a community. Thus any
  insistence on communicating through questions
  might be considered annoying. In Europe, a person
  on a 10-hour train ride, will be considered
  polite if he or she wants to keep silent for the
  whole journey. This is also why train rides in
  Europe are agreeably quiet for Europeans, but
  possibly painful for Chinese.

36
Lines 60-66

• This is also why train rides in Europe are
  agreeably quiet for Europeans

• agreeably intended to be pleasant or nice

He was agreeably surprised.
37
Lines 67-71

• There seems to be fundamentally nothing wrong
  with being interested in strangers, depending on
  the circumstances, but either asking questions or
  not asking questions could prove indelicate.
  Whoever you are, be relaxed and polite no matter
  whether you get intrusive questions or a
  perfunctory hello.

38
Lines 67-71

• depending on the circumstances.

• depend on rely on

Children should not always depend on their
parents.
39
Discussion

• What should we do when we are in
• different situations according to the text?

40
Homework

• ????,?????????????????
• 2.????????????

He broke the ice at the party by telling a
very amusing story.
You should take the other side of the coin into
account.
41
Homework
3.?????????? 4.???????????? 5.?Anne????,???????
???
No one asked him to meddle in this affair.
They feel very uneasy about their future.
At Annes insistence, we took her with us to
the party.
42
Thanks for your attention!
43
(No Transcript)
44
(No Transcript)
45
(No Transcript)
46
(No Transcript)
47
(No Transcript)
48
(No Transcript)