Culture of the United States
The culture of the United States is a Western culture originally influenced by European cultures. It has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore. Today, the United States of America is an ethnically and racially diverse country as a result of large-scale immigration from many different countries throughout its history. Its chief early influences came from English, Scottish and Irish settlers of colonial America. British culture, due to colonial ties with Britain that spread the English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances, had a formative influence. Other important influences came from other parts of Western Europe, especially Germany, France, and Italy.
Prevalent ideas and ideals which evolved domestically such as national holidays, uniquely American sports, military tradition, and innovations in the arts and entertainment give a strong sense of national pride among the population as a whole. American culture includes both conservative and liberal elements, military and scientific competitiveness, political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements. Despite certain consistent ideological principles (e.g. individualism, egalitarianism, and faith in freedom and democracy), American culture has a variety of expressions due to its geographical scale and demographic diversity.
Many cultural elements, especially popular culture, have been exported across the globe through modern mass media. The United States has often been thought of as a melting pot, but recent developments tend towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image of a salad bowl rather than a melting pot.
Exercise 6. Paraphrase the COMMANDERS OF AMERICAN CULTURE:
1. Be a success.
2. Live and let live.
3. Have lots of fun.
4. Shop till you drop.
5. Just do it.
6. No pain, no gain.
7. Stand up for your rights.
8. Time is money.
9. Rules are made to be broken.
10. God helps those who help themselves, so work hard.(from the booklet The ABCs of American Culture)
Which of the upper given commanders are proverbs?
Exercise 7. Ever since the times of the first Puritans, disciplined and productive activity has been highly valued in American society. In the land of the “elected few”, the Dollar has always been the measure of human worth, the maker of friends and the influence of people. No doubt, it’s the basic unit of energy, but what do you think of the phrases: Money makes the World and Money makes the World go round. Are they similar or different? Write a hundred word essays on the theme. (Use 100 words).
Check yourself
1. Find the sentence in a causative form:
a) Haven’t you that film developed yet?
b) Have you that film developed yet?
c) Haven’t you had that film developed yet?
d) Have you that film developed?
2. Find the sentence in a causative form:
a) I really need my car serviced.
b) I really need my car have serviced.
c) I really need my car have been serviced.
d) I really need my car would have serviced.
3. Choose the right variant: The word culture has a ____________origin.
a) Latin
b) Greek
c) French
d) English
4. In the original Latin, the word cultura referred to ….?
a) the development of country
b) the cultivation of soil
c) the bringing up children
d) the produce of tools
Glossary
-
English
Kazakh
Russian
equipment [ɪ'kwɪpmənt]
құрал-жабдық
оборудование
complicated ['kɒmplə‚keɪtɪd]
күрделенген
усложненный
ferocious [fə'rəʋʃəs]
қатал
жестокий, свирепый
formidable[‘fɔ: mid æ əbəl ]
қорқынышты
страшный, грозный
cheerleaders [ ‘chir-‘li:dərz ]
сүйемелдеушілер
группа поддержки,
lengthy[le ŋθi]
ұзын, ұзақ
длинный
explicit [ɪk'splɪsɪt]
анық
ясный, точный
salad bowl[‘s æl əd ‘baul]
бір шынаяқ салат
чашка салата
slashed prices[‘slæʃ ‘praisiz]
томендеткен баға
сниженные цены
melting pot [‘meltiŋ ‘pot]
қайнаған қазан
кипящий котел
Office hours № 8 |
Write a comparative essay on the Russian and Kazakh cultures.
LIW № 22 |
Prepare a presentation on the given topic ‘Culture shock’