Level 8 - Mail 5

[Prof. Guillermo Katz]

Dear students:

 

I am sending you two reading comprehension exercises so you can start practising since you have this kind of exercise in the final exam.

Culture Shock

     You have read about Romulus and Remus whose culture shock came when they went back to the world of human beings after being raised by a wolf. Tarzan's culture shock came when he discovered that he was not a "white ape" but a human being. Emily Carr preferred the culture of the First Nations people and the life she led on her explorations to the dresses and polite conversations of her own culture. You now know that First Nations culture did not include school or even business activity, people spent most of their time in nature or around the fire of their home talking, telling stories and making the things they needed to survive.

     Psychologists tell us that there are four basic stages that human beings pass through when they enter and live in a new culture. This process, which helps us to deal with culture shock, is the way our brain and our personality reacts to the strange new things we encounter when we move from one culture to another. If our culture involves bowing when we greet someone, we may feel very uncomfortable in a culture that does not involve bowing. If the language we use when talking to someone in our own culture is influenced by levels of formality based on the other person's age and status, it may be difficult for us to feel comfortable communicating with people in the new culture.

     Culture begins with the "honeymoon stage". This is the period of time when we first arrive in which everything about the new culture is strange and exciting. We may be suffering from "jet lag" but we are thrilled to be in the new environment, seeing new sights, hearing new sounds and language, eating new kinds of food. This honeymoon stage can last for quite a long time because we feel we are involved in some kind of great adventure.

     Unfortunately, the second stage of culture shock can be more difficult. After we have settled down into our new life, working or studying, buying groceries, doing laundry, or living with a home-stay family, we can become very tired and begin to miss our homeland and our family, girlfriend/boyfriend, pets. All the little problems that everybody in life has seem to be much bigger and more disturbing when you face them in a foreign culture. This period of cultural adjustment can be very difficult and lead to the new arrival rejecting or pulling away from the new culture. This "rejection stage" can be quite dangerous because the visitor may develop unhealthy habits (smoking and drinking too much, being too concerned over food or contact with people from the new culture). This can, unfortunately lead to the person getting sick or developing skin infections or rashes which then makes the person feel even more scared and confused and helpless. This stage is considered a crisis in the process of cultural adjustment and many people choose to go back to their homeland or spend all their time with people from their own culture speaking their native language.

     The third stage of culture shock is called the "adjustment stage". This is when you begin to realize that things are not so bad in the host culture. Your sense of humour usually becomes stronger and you realize that you are becoming stronger by learning to take care of yourself in the new place. Things are still difficult, but you are now a survivor!

     The fourth stage can be called "at ease at last". Now you feel quite comfortable in your new surroundings. You can cope with most problems that occur. You may still have problems with the language, but you know you are strong enough to deal with them. If you meet someone from your country who has just arrived, you can be the expert on life in the new culture and help them to deal with their culture shock.

     There is a fifth stage of culture shock which many people don't know about. This is called "reverse culture shock". Surprisingly, this occurs when you go back to your native culture and find that you have changed and that things there have changed while you have been away. Now you feel a little uncomfortable back home. Life is a struggle!

 

Questions

Select the answer you think is correct.

1.	When does culture shock happen?
	when you reach your teens
	when you move to a big city
	when you meet foreign people for the first time
	when you go to live in a foreign culture
2.	How do you feel during the first stage of culture shock?
	lonely and depressed
	bored and homesick
	happy and excited
	angry and frustrated
3.	How do you feel during the second stage?
	homesick and afraid
	interested and amused
	stressed, but positive
	you have no particular feelings
4.	How could the third stage be described?
	adjustment
	rejection
	enthusiasm
	anger
5.	How do you feel during the fourth stage of culture shock?
	tense, but positive
	relaxed
	negative and stressed
	afraid
6.	Why might reverse culture shock be a problem?
	It hardly ever happens.
	It is extremely stressful.
	Most people do not expect it.
	It only happens to young people.   Wild Children: The Wild Life Long before the arrival of Europeans on the Canadian prairie (the wide grasslands of what is now called Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba), the First Nations people lived in a harmonious relationship with their natural surroundings. Every item of their culture, from sewing needles to homes was obtained from nature. Their homes were called teepees and were like large tents made from the skins of deer. These people - tribes with names like the Blackfoot, the Peigan and the Blood people - were nomadic, which means that they travelled from place to place following the animals they hunted or the growth of the berries and fruits on the bushes and trees. They had horses, although horses came to North America after escaping from the Spanish explorers who brought them here to explore the areas around Mexico and Texas. Boys and girls were both expert riders. They did not use saddles or reins or stirrups; they rode "bareback". Their clothes were made from deer skins and buffalo skins and decorated with the parts of other animals - tails from squirrels and gophers, quills from porcupines and the delicate bones of birds. These children of nature did not ever have to go to school. They did not have to study to get into a prestigious college, nor did they have to worry about finding a job after graduation. This does not mean their life was easy. The winters were very long and very cold and there were sometimes wars between tribes. There were also the very great dangers involved in the buffalo hunt. Warriors rode at top speed (with no saddle) beside the huge buffalo shooting arrows to bring them down. The chances of a buffalo turning suddenly or of falling off the horse were very great. We must remember that there were also no hospitals in those days. Even so, the young people of the tribes must have enjoyed a very pleasant lifestyle: fishing and gathering berries in summer, hunting in the forests in the early morning, dancing around the fire at night and listening to the old people tell stories and legends from long ago. Multiple-Choice Questions 1. True or false: Riding "bareback" means riding without any equipment on the horse.    a) True                                                                b) False 2. First Nations people never killed deer.    a) True    b) False 3. First Nations people had no enemies.    a) True    b) False 4. Mathematics was not a priority for the kind of life they led.    a) True    b) False 5. The First Nations people did not develop a written language.    a) True    b) False 6. People were rarely killed while hunting buffalo.    a) True    b) False

See you in class!  Gmo

 

Answers exercise 1

1d 2c 3a 4a 5b 6c

 

Answers exercise 2

1a 2b 3b 4a 5a 6b