Разница культур

[Iska]

Вот мое сочинение для Advanced Composition. Оно было написано 4 года назад, я в Америке еще недолго жила. Сейчас кажется немного наивным. Некоторые идеи помню, что нарыла в интернете- про индивидуализм и еще что-то, но обыгрывала сама
Americanization.
“Excuse me, do you have hookers?”
“Hmmm…What do you mean? Why do you need them?”
“I don’t know… To screw them…to the wall”
I know what you probably thought, but the meaning of this dialogue is far from what everybody might think. The two men talking are a Home Depot assistant and a Russian immigrant who confused the words “hook” and “hooker”, thus, creating a comic situation. A language barrier is the most obvious problem that all immigrants must overcome. Though it might be the most obvious problem, it is not the only obstacle on the way of the Russian immigrant to Americanization. In fact, most of the problems the Russian immigrants come across might fall into the following categories:
1. Linguistic barrier.
Recently my friend told me a story which was supposed to be funny. One day he was watching the news about a terroristic act that took place in 1995 in Oklahoma. My friend was very astonished by the fact that the police knew the name shortly after the terroristic act had taken place. The name of the suspect was John Dough. The irony is that I didn’t get the meaning of the story either and my friend had to explain to me what John Dough meant. I’m sure that I’m not the only immigrant who was unaware of the meaning of such kind of words that are the part of the American English language. Even after a Russian immigrant learns English to the extent of being able to read newspapers and books, he still has to learn the realities of the American culture. I personally still don’t get many American jokes and I can’t solve the American crosswords because both jokes and crosswords are filled with the American realities. To overcome this problem the Russian immigrants have to devote themselves to learning the American culture. Only thus, they will be able to overcome a language barrier completely.
2.View of time.
Recently my friend, who is a student of the Onondaga Community College, told me that her Professor of Sociology, an Afro-American himself, discussed the way Afro-Americans viewed time. He pointed out that mostly the Americans are very punctual but the Afro-Americans treated time more freely. In his opinion, that phenomenon traced its roots back to the time of slavery when Afro-Americans were not interested in the results of their labor because they did not work for themselves. The Russians’ view of time is similar to that of Afro-Americans’ one. Why? The reason is that both the Russians and the Afro-Americans had lots in common. The slavery in Russia was abolished in 1861. A few decades later a Soviet era came and it didn’t encourage the individual progress as well. Russians continued to disrespect the concept of time, and often being on time was a challenge for them. Again, this characteristic can be explained by the fact that during the Soviet era workers could not be fired and thеrе wаs nо incentive to do things on time. Russians in the USA have to overcome the innate characteristic of always being late and to learn how to be on time. Only thus they can avoid getting into troubles.
3. Informality
To belong in America, a Russian immigrant should also embrace the concept of informality of the American behavior. Americans enjoy a reputation of being the most informal people in the world. They call people by their first names even in the important institutions. For example, if the name of the professor is Garry Rainford, the American student will often address him just “Garry”. As for the Russian student, the professor for him will be always “Professor Rainford.” Such informal behavior is considered to be normal in the USA. In Russia, on the contrary, it may be considered to be a lack of manners and be condemned by the Russian society.
4.Smiling.
Within several weeks upon their arrival the new immigrants from Russia mark their assimilation by starting to use a smile as a form of greeting. A smile as a demonstration of good disposition towards strangers is not the essential part of the Russian culture. It is not customary in Russia, especially in big cities, to talk or smile at strangers. (I, personally, was so strained to smile during the first days of my life in the USA that I found myself smiling even when I was alone.) The psychological theory explains that such coldness and unfriendliness as well as the general bleak outlook on life of Russians were caused by harsh environmental conditions of Russia. Indeed, the Russian environment was always intense, and by environment not only nature is meant by the political environment as well. In the USA, on the contrary, everybody is very friendly, sometimes up to the point of theatricality. That is why to look like Americans many Russian immigrants have to grasp the concept of greeting with a smile and to overcome a psychological barrier of being unfriendly and cold to others.
5. Privacy.
Another important concept that is sometimes difficult to fathom by Russians is “privacy”. The word “privacy” has no equivalent in the Russian language. One should consider the history of the country to explain this fact. For more than 70 years Russians were taught to value opposite things- collеctivism instеad of privacy. Hence, collectivism has become a part of Russian mentality. That is why a Russian student in the USA should understand that an American student can get surprised if asked to help somebody with a test. It is quite normal for an American student to report on somebody who cheats on an exam. An American student just follows the honor code. But in the eyes of a Russian student to report on somebody who is cheating is not honorable at all. On the contrary it is considered to be a betrayal and few students practice to report on their neighbors.
6. Competiveness and Individualism.
The above-mentioned example also demonstrates how much the concepts of compеtitiveness and individualism are valued in the USA. As a matter of fact, for many Russians the word “individualism” and “compеtitiveness” are synonymous with the word “sеlfishness”. For example, Russians think it to be rather outrageous that many American parents make their children provide for themselves once they are 18 years old. That is because in Russia children are taken care of for a much longer period by their parents. Again, this fact can be explained from a historical point-of-view. Unlike capitalism, communism could not offer such a variety of jobs, especially temporary ones, because the supply of goods and services was limited in the USSR. In other words there was not much to sell and offer. Thus, there were no working positions for teenagers.
One should also add that though Russia has been accepting more and more Western values, individualism is still not developed in the Russian culture. Why wasn’t individualism a part of the Russian culture from the very beginning? Again, one can find the answer to this question in the history of Russia. The fact is that during the Soviet era people’s opinions were suppressed and it was often dangerous to express one’s point-of-view. Today the situation has changed, however, the echo of the past is still hovering in the air and people still are not that eager to express their opinion openly.
7. Dress Code.
When I came to the USA for the first time I went to Texas to visit my girlfriend. She lived in a trailer house near the highway at that time. Also she worked in a restaurant that was located on that highway. My friend couldn’t drive a car and had to get to the restaurant by foot. So here we were preparing to go to the restaurant one day. I understood well that to get to the final destination I would have to be walking along the highway for at least 20 minutes. Nevertheless, I put my high heels on. My friend suggested that I should take them off. I got very offended by her “strange” suggestion. In fact, I didn’t want to attract somebody’s attention; my outfit was just the reflection of the Russian dress code. Only later, I realized that Americans prefer a more casual style, whereas Russians, especially women, like dressier clothes. A peroxide blonde wearing high heels may be a bit stereotypical view of the Russian women, but it often is rather realistic. To blend into the American society and to look like Americans, the Russian immigrants should give up their dress code and to wear more casual clothes (of course, it is not a prerogative, just an advice to adapt in the American society.)
All these examples demonstrate how cultures may differ and how many obstacles a Russian immigrant may face. In order not to judge and not to be judged one should explore the customs and habits of a country you are going to immigrate into. What is considered to be wrong in one country might be considered to be right in another country. The history of a country can resolve a lot of problems immigrants come across because throughout the history one can trace how people’s mentality has been shaped and how people’s certain values have been cultivated. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”- that is the best alternative for any immigrant to avoid a clash of cultures.

[domperignon]

Сильные стороны это традиционно для русских широкое образование i.e. resourcfullness, умение докопаться до истины и быстро научиться. Слабые стороны когда то были (сейчас нет)(т.е. недостаточный американский опыт общения) но который научил вас побеждать проблемы.

как это сейчас нет? a нежелание работать как team work? когда все - найс, но - бездари, а тебе одному приходиться тянуть работу за всех этих найс?

а по теме о культурных различиях... не принято у нас жрать на собраниях иначе это выглядит как неуважение к выступающему.

у нас еще в россии есть на занятиях было большим табу, даже в институте, не говоря уже о средней школе. тут это очень распространено. выходить и входить во время занятия тоже было крайней грубостью.

насчет того, что ходят в одной одежде, я думал это в прошлом. это же вроде как от бедности и необразованности было. многие еще мылись очень редко. но в деревнях и маленьких городах наверняка это распространено еще. на этом конечно сцену лучше не делать

[prosper2008]

Для автора - посмотрите книжки для учителей ESL (их готовят, чтоб понимать cultural differences своих учеников, там много моожно найти примеров).
вот один запомнился, именно про русскоговорящих учеников:
урок начинается, учитель спрашивает: "Иван, would you like to read your home task for the class?" (подразумевается конечно просьба учителя, это проверка как кто выполнил задание)
Иван отвечает: "No, I would not" (правильно грамматически ответил, заметьте

Из моих наблюдений - в районе русской бани девушка, молодая-красивая-современная, офисная одежда (видимо идет с работы) идет-везет wheel bag, наверху привязан роскошный веник. Смотрится она шикарно

[prosper2008]

А про есть в классе - как же хорошо, что с этим тут не заморачиваются. А что делать - днем работа, потом транспорт (там не всегда удается поесть, да и купить по пути бывает негде), захватил еду, заскочил в класс, хорошо!