Словесное обоснование форм и методов проведения занятий

1.Занятие - Лекция

CUSTOMS VARY WITH CULTURE

Many American customs may surprise you; the same thing happens to us when we visit another country. People living in varied cultures handle many small daily things differently. The constant restless motion of Americans may be startling at first. People in the flat Middle West think nothing of driving 75 to a 100 miles just to have dinner with a friend; they go to a far- off city for an evening of theater or music or even a movie. Countless young people select a college thousands miles away from their families just to see another part of the country and to visit new places.

Our Lack of Knowledge about Other Lands

You may come upon Americans who lack knowledge about your country. If so, be patient with them. Unfortunately, we do not teach enough about other cultures, customs, or even geography in our schools; we have always been so insulated by oceans that we are not readily exposed to different cultures and other ways of doing things. If Americans crudely try to help you with something that has long been totally familiar to you, if they confuse your country with another thousands of miles away, be patient. This huge continent has been developed from virgin land into the modern dynamo that it is now in a remarkably short time- about 300 years. We have been absorbed with our own growth, with road building, city building, free education for millions of children, the assimilation of countless strangers; with the inventions, discoveries, and developments that our science and technology have contributed to the world. Our attention has been inward, not global, through most of these 300 years. A " world" scene has come to the United States only since the end of World War 2. Regrettably, most of us are still quite unfamiliar and uninformed in regard to other lands.

Doing Your Own Things

Because our people have come from so many nationalities, there is a far wider range of what is " acceptable" than in some countries where the inhabitants have grown up with a common heritage. As a result, no one needs to feel uncomfortable in following his or her own customs. Although Americans are noticeably informal, if you prefer somewhat greater formality, feel free to act in your own way. This will be acceptable to those around you. As the young say, each person can do his own thing, behave independently and be respected here to a very large extent.

Personal Questions

Conversational questions may seem to you both too personal and too numerous-especially when you first arrive. " Where do you work?" " Are you married?" " How many children do you have?" are not personal questions by Americans standards. They are a search for common ground on which to build a relationship or base a conversation. Understand that such questions are meant to be friendly; the questioner is interested in you, in your life and your business; he or she is not being impatient.