Talk about English - Who on Earth are we? Part 12 | Текст песни

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• Who on Earth are we? Part 12

Callum: Hello and welcome to the last in our series about culture and inter-cultural
communication Who on Earth are we?
Over the course of this series, we’ve heard about some of the ways that we can
explore cultural differences, we’ve come closer to understanding the nature of
‘culture’ - and found ways that can help us communicate better with people
from different cultural backgrounds. But have we come any closer to
understanding what our own cultures are like - do we know ‘who on earth we
are?’
We’ll try to answer that question at the end of the programme. Before that,
though, let’s look back at some of the main points covered during the series -
and then consider how we can make practical use of this knowledge.
We heard that the nature of the culture we grow up in is invisible to us. We
don’t look at our own culture because, for us, it’s normal.
We looked at language – and how languages are different, not just in the way
they sound or the words they use, but because different languages represent
both the different ways people experience the world, and influence the way the
people of a culture think and behave.
We considered the differences between verbal cultures, where people value
talk and verbal reasoning – and non-verbal cultures, where silence is
considered a positive thing because it can help to maintain social harmony.
Then, we heard about the different ways people from different cultures use
body-language, touch and gesture – and how this can affect, and be affected by,
different cultural attitudes to time and space.
One of the most important ideas we covered, was the distinction between
cultures where the individual is seen as central, and those where the group is
seen as the most important unit.
We looked at cultural dimensions - at how we can begin to see what a culture is
like by considering things such as a culture’s attitude to power, whether a
culture tries to avoid uncertainty, or to what extent a culture values masculine
or feminine characteristics.
And in recent programme we looked at some of the barriers to successful
communication between people from different cultures, and the problem of
culture shock. But what are the practical implications of all this? What use can
we make of this information? Over to series writer and presenter, Marc Beeby.
Marc: Well, we need to turn these theories into action –when we meet and talk to
people from other cultures, for example – or, more particularly, when we go to
live in a foreign country. And how do we do that? Sit back and listen as people
from around the world help Rebecca Fong – a teacher of intercultural
communication from the University of the West of England, present a guide to
turning theories about culture into successful - and beneficial - intercultural
practice
Rebecca Fong
First and foremost the biggest barrier to adjusting to a new culture could well be assuming
that it'll be easy and that you'll be OK. If it is - obviously that's fantastic - if it isn't - which it's
much more likely to be - then don't panic - this is normal, you're normal. Focus on the idea of
cultural relativism - no one culture is right. We shouldn't use our own standards to judge other cultures with. Begin the process of asking questions about how and why different cultures do
things differently.
Eilidh Hamilton
We all believe that our culture is the right way of doing it because we've always been told this
is right, this is how you behave, this is what you must say, this is what you must do. When
you move to another culture often you have to realise that what you have learnt is not
intrinsically right - it's just one way.
...
Группа Learning English.
Продолжение текста здесь:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/scripts/whoonearth/tae_whoonearth_12_080717.pdf

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