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Cultural Differences in Time Perception: American vs. Chinese Norms

Explore various social situations through the lens of cultural disparities in time consciousness between Americans and Chinese.

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Cultural Differences in Time Perception: American vs. Chinese Norms

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  1. Unit 1 Section A Time-Conscious Americans

  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pre-class Tasks Checking Text Comprehension Difficult Sentences Words and Expressions Summary Writing Post-class Tasks

  3. Pre-class Tasks Checking

  4. People from different countries may choose different ways to deal with the same situations. Thus, sometimes, misunderstanding arises. • Cultural Differences

  5. Situation 1– home visit How to deal with these situations? Situation 2– to a party Situation 3– being invited to dinner Situation 4– an appointment Situation 5– an interview

  6. Situation 1: On your way home, it occurred to you that your American friend Mary had invited you to visit her when you were free. Then you dropped in on her house. But when you knocked at the door …

  7. Mary felt surprised. Why? In China, it’s OK to visit friends without calling ahead of time. While in the U.S., it’s impoliteto do so.

  8. What is the polite way in the U.S.? Calling ahead of time.

  9. Situation 2: Your American friend invited you to her party tonight at 7:30. When are you supposed to get there? Why? A. Before 7:00, to help her to prepare. B. 5’~10’ late, not to be the first guest. C. After 8:00, I’m the VIP. D. 5’~10’ earlier, it’s a polite way to show my respect for her.

  10. In the U.S., people tend to be _____________. 5’~10’ late (B) In China, close friends tend to arrive _______________， but acquaintances tend to arrive _______________. before 7:00 (A) 5’~10’ earlier (D)

  11. Situation 3:Your American friend invited you to her house for dinner at 6:30. When are you supposed to get there? A. Right on time. B. Be fashionably late. C. Half an hour late. D. About 5’－10’ earlier. A B The Americans： The Chinese:

  12. Situation 4: Dr. Tom Smith from NY is practicing medicine in a rural area in Arab. His opening day was booked fully a week ago. But half an hour passed, neither of his first two patients arrived. Why? Why? Why? Why?

  13. punctual Americans tend to be _________. half an hour or 40 minutes late To the Arabians, ________________________ is acceptable.

  14. Situation 5: During an interview, the American boss asks about your idea on salary as a secretary, which answer will be good for you? $ $ $ $

  15. 1. Any sum of money is OK for me. 2. Oh, money is not important to me. I don’t come here simply for money. 3. At least $2500, I’m the best. 4. $1,000 a month. I can make it.

  16. Tips In America, a person’s success is based on how much money he makes. And Americans are not afraid of showing their confidence. To most Chinese, it’d be the responsibility of the company to decide the salary according to the employee’s performance. THIS MAY BE DUE TO CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

  17. Tips Cultural differences exist in the ways of … • greetings • thinking • expressing ideas • educating • parenting • responding to compliments & praise …

  18. II. Brainstorming In your eyes, learning a foreign language well means learning what aspects of language well?

  19. Learning a foreign language well means more than mastering the pronunciation, grammar and expressions. It also means learning its culture.

  20. Ⅲ. Global Understanding 1. What topic does this essay center on? It centers on the topic ---- How American culture is different from other cultures in their treatment of time.

  21. 2. How do Americans think of time? Time is treated as if it were something almost real. It is a precious resource. They want every minute to count.

  22. Text Comprehension Structure survey Detailed understanding Structure Analysis

  23. I. Structure Survey Americans value and save time Part 1 para. 1-2 Quick in doing business Quick in doing business Save time through time-saving devices Save time through time-saving devices Everyone is in a rush Part 2 para. 3-7 Cultural difference Part 3 para. 8

  24. II.Detailed Understanding

  25. 1. What are the two things Americans try to save? Time and labor (Para. 1)

  26. Time is regarded as ________________. (Para. 2) 2. What does time mean to Americans? precious resources

  27. They do everything ________. • They start talking business _______. • They work hard at the task of saving time by______________________________ _____________ . 3. How do Americans do everything? 4. When do Americans start talking business? 5. How do Americans save time? in a rush quickly producing a steady flow of labor- saving devices (Para. 3-7)

  28. 6. What’s the conclusion? have different ideas The foreigners _________________ from those of American. (Para. 8)

  29. To successfully solve a problem and to fulfill a job with speed is taken by __________ as a sign of skillfulness Americans being competent The _________ consider it proper to ____________________ . foreigners take time doing things

  30. Ⅲ. Structure Analysis A. The Writing Model of the Passage: General Statement + Illustration + Emphasis • What is the General Statement ? • What is the illustration? • What does the writer emphasize?

  31. The general statement: (Para. 1-2) • What does the writer want to tell us ? Americans are _____________ . time-conscious

  32. Illustration: (Para. 3-7) Para.3: Everyone in the U.S. is in a rush. Para.4: Americans start talking business quickly. Para.5-7: Americans work hard to save time.

  33. Americans take it as a sign of skillfulness to do things quickly, while the foreigners consider it proper to take time doing things. Emphasis by contrast: (Para. 8)

  34. The writer presents the general statement by giving specific details, then telling the reasons. B. The way to develop paragraphs: General Statement + Specific Details + Reason

  35. Work with your partner and find out the General Statement, the specific details and the related reason in Paragraph 3:

  36. General statement: _____________________________________. Everyone is in a rush — often under pressure Specific details : city people, hurrying to … • _________________________________ • _________________________________ • _________________________________ working time, precious … drivers, abrupt, people, push past … The reason: This is because people value time highly __________________________________.

  37. Paragraph 7 is also developed in this way. Now pick out the general statement, specific details and the reason in it.

  38. General statement: The U.S. is definitely a telephone country _____________________________________. Specific details : everyone, telephone, conduct business … __________________________________ The reason : telephones, save, feet, time … • ___________________________________ • ___________________________________ • __________________________________ telephone service, superb, postal service, efficient …

  39. Difficult Sentences Paraphrase Translation

  40. 1. We are slaves to nothing but the clock.(L. 5) We are under the control of time only and nothing else; we are only dominated by time… Meaning: 只有时间才能支配我们 翻译：

  41. more: slave to drink; slave to money more: He is nothing but a criminal. He did nothing but complain.

  42. 一旦…… 便…… 2. Once the sands have run out of a person’s hourglass, they cannot be replaced. (L 9) Meaning:Once time has passed, it will not return. 翻译：时光一去不复返。

  43. Translation • 她一到我们就开始。 • 一旦染上坏习惯,想改掉就难了。 • Once she arrives, we can start. • Once you get into a bad habit, you'll find it hard to get out of it.

  44. 3. Don’t take it personally. (L19) 翻译：不要觉得这是针对你个人的。 Meaning:Don’t let it upset you (because they treat everybody this way; or because they are not doing this to you in particular.) What does “it” refer to?

  45. 4.… which though pleasant, take longer — especially given our traffic- filled streets. (L 34) given + n./ that clause , 如果有……, 假如；考虑到…… Translation: • 考虑到他们缺乏经验,他们算做得很出色了。 • Given their inexperience, they’ve done a good • job.

  46. 5. In some countries no major business is conducted without eye contact, requiring face-to-face conversation. (L 37) Meaning:In some countries, important business must be carried out with eye contact, and through face-to-face conversation. 翻译：在有些国家，如果没有目光接触，就做不成大生意，这需要面对面的交谈。

  47. Note: while; in contrast because of 6. This is due partly to the fact that the telephone service is superb here, whereas the postal service is less efficient. (L 46) “whereas” isused to show the contrast. 翻译：有些人喜欢肥肉,而有些人却不喜欢 Some people like fatty meat, whereas others hate it.

  48. Matching Game Chinese to English Word Using

  49. acute run out of replace in a rush restlessly race through interaction nothing but leisurely impatiently communication fine/sharp; severe/great only without hurry take the place of use up/flow out of do sth. in a hurry in a hurry Matching Game

  50. excellent physically present, by oneself in contrast, while exist at the same time carry out be able to do sth. bring sth. to a completion， satisfy near in time/place meaning, importance go with significance conduct be at hand in person superb whereas be competent to do fulfill

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