Unit 8 Globalization – For and Against

Experiencing English 4 Unit 8 Globalization – For and Against By Zhang Shu

Can you figure out how many things in your daily life are not from your own culture? More…

We use the foreign languages here and there.

We watch the foreign movies and worship the foreign movie stars..

We even celebrate the foreign festivals.

For the youths, the Valentine’s Day is the most popular one.

Do you know the origin and the traditions of the Valentine’s Day?

The Origin of Valentine’s Day • There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine’s Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine”. Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor St. Valentine.

The Traditions of Valentine’s Day • 1. Hundreds of years ago in England, many children dressed up as adults on Valentine’s Day. They went singing from home to home. One verse they sang was: Good morning to you, Valentine; curl your locks as I do mine– two before and three behind. Good morning to you, Valentine. • 2. In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

The Traditions of Valentine’s Day 3. In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favorite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, “You unlock my heart!” 4. In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a young man if she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him. 5. The tradition of card giving on Valentine’s Day seems an American phenomenon.

Nowadays, owing to the globalization, more and more people in Asia also send Valentine’s Day cards to their valentines.And the following text is about Valentine’s Day cards in Asia.

Think about it1.Do you buy Valentine’s Day cards printed in English or in Chinese for your girlfriend or boyfriend?2.Why do you think more and more young people celebrate foreign festivals or holidays in China? Hallmark’s Asian Valentine The tradition of card giving on Valentine's Day seemingly an American phenomenon is taking rootin Asia, too. Yet, when Asian customers buy Valentine's Day cards, they often choose the original English versions even when they don't speak the language. Hallmark’s greeting cards are known throughout the world. The Kansas city-based company has developed into a $3.5 billion corporation, from its beginnings in 1910 when Joyce C. Hall started producing cards from samples he stored under his bed.Now,

over 90 years later, Hallmark has developed into a global company with expansion into Asia a major part of its strategy. In Asia alone, the Kansas city-based firm acquired a company in Japan in 1994 and founded creative organizations in Hong Kong and Singapore in 1998 and in Shanghai in 1999. Hallmark representatives like to point out that Asia has developed into an “area of emphasis.” Hong Kong and Singapore are being turned from distribution centers into investment centers. In the United States alone, 67% of Valentine’s Day activities consist of giving Valentine’s Day cards as gifts to people. And in 2000, according to Hallmark, Americans spent more than $3.6 billion on Valentine’s Day. But while the market in the United States is huge, the potential for Hallmark's 1 330 different Valentine’s Day cards in Asia is even bigger.

Based on the sales of Hallmark cards, it appears that the number of consumer romantics in China, Japan and Korea is rising. This is not surprising, given that Hallmark greeting cards have proven to be a great way to overcome some of the emotional restrictions that still reign in a number of Asian societies. Becoming Don Juan without losing face The problem in Eastern societies is that cultural norms and romance often run into a dilemma:how do you tell a girl that you fancy her without putting yourself in a position in which you could “lose face” ?In China, for example, because of cultural norms, men will perhaps never be mistaken for Shakespeare’s Romeo. Romance, of the Western variety, is simply not a Chinese man's cup of tea. So, how do you overcome this dilemma? To sidestep possible pitfalls of cultural impropriety, the Chinese Don Juan goes and buys his sweetie a Hallmark card for Valentine’s Day. Thus, he can express his emotions through a pre-made message on paper, rather than through uncomfortable sweet talk in person.

In Japan and Korea, the rules are somewhat different. Here men generally tend to be much less inhibited about their emotions and romantic interests. To assess just how emotional Japanese men can be in all walks of life, just recall the occasional news feature of a top Japanese or Korean CEO apologizing in tears for the weak performance or bankruptcy of his company in front of his nation’s TV cameras. In Japan and Korea, it is the women that are more emotionally inhibited than the men. So, in order for them to display some affection in a suitable manner, women will send out the Hallmark Valentine cards to the object of their affection. But, if you think Hallmark cards need to be translated into the different Asian languages to enable lovers to exchange tender words, think again.

Love talk is global, and no language skills are required. Since most of the Hallmark cards bought in Asia are produced within country, it seemed only natural that Hallmark cards would be translated into the local vernacular. To accommodate customers throughout the world, Hallmark prints greeting cards in 30 different languages. Thus, cards are now actually being printed in Mandarin and Japanese with plans to extend the translations to various Indian languages, such as Hindi, Gujarati and Tamil. Customer surveys, however, revealed that this effort was not really necessary. English is the hip thing You see, if you really want to impress your Chinese girlfriend or your Japanese boyfriend, don't send them a Japanese or Mandarin language card. This is a turn-off. Contrary to Hallmark’s expectations, it turns out that Asian lovers prefer to give their sweeties English-language cards even when they speak little or no English.It is just the hip thing to do.

And upon learning of this cultural preference, Hallmark reacted quickly. Even though Chinese and Japanese descendants of Romeo and Juliet are now able to buy greeting cards in their native language, Hallmark has made sure the supply of greeting cards in English is plentiful. Thus, their customers can achieve both a display of their hip cosmopolitan flair, while also sending their sweetie that all-important message of love at the same time.

The Kansas city-based company has developed into a $3.5 billion corporation, from its beginnings in 1910 when Joyce C. Hall started producing cards from samples he stored under his bed. Paraphrase The headquarter of the $3.5 billion corporation is now in Kansas City; however, the corporation can be traced back to 1910 when Joyce C Hall started producing cards from samples he stored under his bed.

To assess just how emotional Japanese men can be in all walks of life, just recall the occasional news feature of a top Japanese or Korean CEO apologizing in tears for the weak performance or bankruptcy of his company in front of his nation's TV cameras. Paraphrase It is not so difficult for us to understand how emotional Japanese men can be when we watch the men apologizing in tears on TV for their weak performance and bankruptcy of their companies. Assessall walks of lifebankruptcy

The problem in Eastern societies is that cultural norms and romance often run into a dilemma: … Paraphrase In Eastern societies, people are often facing a conflict between cultural norms and romance… run into dilemma

Contrary to Hallmark’s expectations, it turns out that Asian lovers prefer to give their sweeties English-language cards even when they speak little or no English. Paraphrase It was beyond Hallmark’s expectations that Asian lovers would like to buy cards with English words even though they speak little or no English.

Thus, their customers can achieve both a display of their hip cosmopolitan flair5, while also sending their sweetie that all-important message of love at the same time. Paraphrase In this way, Hallmark's customers can send their important love messages to their sweeties, and on the other hand they can show how fashionable they are by following international trends. cosmopolitanflair

assessv. — decide or fix the amount or value of ( a situation, a person’s abilities or achievements, worth or cost of something) • Example • He looked around at the other competitors and assessed his chances of winning. • The value of the stolen jewelry was assessed at $50 000.

all walks of life — all professions, occupations, social status • Examples • The representatives come from all walks of life. • He enjoyed making friends with people from all walks of life.

bankruptcyn. — bankrupt condition, not have enough money to pay one’s debts, the process of being declared bankrupt • Examples • The club was plunged into bankruptcy because of its ill management. • There were an increasing number of bankruptcies among small shopkeepers with the entering of multinational chain supermarkets.

run intov. — 1) unexpectedly faced with, fall into ( difficulties, troubles or debts) • Examples • We ran into serious problems when we were in the middle of doing the experiment. More to learn

run intov. — 2) meet unexpectedly (with sb.) • Examples • The old man ran into his best childhood friend on the train with whom he has lost touch for twenty years. More to learn

run intov. — 3) bump into or collide with • Examples • Her car ran into a tree, but fortunately she was not injured and there was only a minor damage to the car.

dilemman. — situation in which one has to make difficult choice between two opposite things or two unsatisfactory alternatives • Examples • His mother’s deteriorating mental state put him in a dilemma, as he was reluctant to hand her over to the care of others, but knew he could not look after her properly himself. • She ran into a dilemma when she had to make a choice between family and her career.

cosmopolitanadj. — 1) of or from all or many different parts of the world, describe things that display the traditions and cultures of many different countries • Examples • New York is a very cosmopolitan city where you can meet with people of different races and ancestors and encounter all kinds of foreign cultures. More to learn

cosmopolitanadj. — 2) A cosmopolitan person has experience and knowledge of the traditions and cultures of many different countries. • Examples • The new minister for the Arts has a very cosmopolitan outlook.

flairn. — natural or instinctive ability (to do sth. well, to select or recognize what is best) • Examples • I was amazed by his artistic flair. • We need badly a designer with plenty of flair.

take root — 1) (of a cutting) send out a root or roots • Example • The seeds sprouted and took root. • The shoot which was grafted (嫁接) from a good apple tree into an old one has taken its root and blossomed. More to learn

take root — 2) (fig.) become established • Example • His ideas have taken root in the minds of his followers. • Try to find a piece of land to strike root. ( take root)

accommodatev. — 1) adapt; get into agreement or into adjustment • Examples • He is capable of accommodating himself to the changed circumstances and always can achieve his goal step by step. • The President seemed unwilling to accommodate himself to the public desires. More to learn

accommodatev. — 2) provide a place for someone to stay , live or work • Examples • Some of the homeless families are being temporarily accommodated in hotels. • The new hotel can accommodate up to 1000 tourists. (same as take or hold)

Answer the following questions with the information you obtain from the passage. • 1. Why is Asia being turned from a distribution center into an investment center for Hallmark? • 2.Why do Asian people prefer to send a Hallmark card to their sweeties instead of talking in person to express their emotions? • 3.Why don’t Hallmark cards need to be translated into different languages to enable lovers to exchange tender words? • 4.To what extent is Valentine’s Day popular with the people in China? • 5. What difference exists between Chinese and Japanese or Korean men according to the author?

1. Why is Asia being turned from a distribution center into an investment center for Hallmark? • Because the number of romantic consumers in Asia is rising and the potential market for Hallmark cards is great.

2.Why do Asian people prefer to send a Hallmark card to their sweeties instead of talking in person to express their emotions? • Because people in Asia are often restricted by cultural norms and they are more emotionally inhibited than Westerners. Besides, they are afraid of losing face if they are rejected.

3.Why don’t Hallmark cards need to be translated into different languages to enable lovers to exchange tender words? • Because using a nice English card to convey one’s love is a fashion everywhere in the world.

4.To what extent is Valentine’s Day popular with the people in China? • Valentine’s Day is more and more popular in China, especially with young people in cities who always like new things and follow the fashions.

5. What difference exists between Chinese and Japanese or Korean men according to the author? • The Japanese or Korean men are less restrained or inhibited by cultural norms than Chinese men in the way tender emotions are expressed.

Thanks

Unit 8 Globalization – For and Against