In his 2015 Stanford commencement address, journalist Richard Engel tells the graduates to experience the world: "Put yourself in situations where you don't know wht's going on around you and let your brain sort it out. That's the fun part: the constant learning, the new sensations, the new places, and the new risks." Have you ever thought about how life differs around the world? In what ways would you one day explore the globe?

Lead-in

What are social customs?

Social customs include actions and behaviors that are expected of a particular culture. Social customs may include how a person greets another, makes eye contact, dresses in public and converses in a discussion. Social customs can also dictate the type of language a person uses in social settings.

Social customs differ in different parts of the world. If we don't realize this, misunderstanding may arise between people that behave differently. 

For example, india's social arena puts more prominence on gender, with special preference given to males as a figure of authority and donimance. Almost all marriages are arranged in this culture, and women are expected to be more submissive in social settings.

In the United States, people are very informal in social situations. For example, they call each other by their given names when two people first meet. So do the young to the old. In China, it would be regarded quite impolite to do so.

Another difference is about what can be talked about in a conversation. A Chinese thinks nothing of being asked how much his coat cost while Americans think it impolite to ask such a question. A Chinese woman doesn't care if she is asked about her age. Politics, religions, as well as incomes are often talked about among Chinese. But in the United States these kinds of subjects are usually avoided in conversation.

Pair work

Look at the following pictures and talk about the different customs between China and other countries.

 

Task 1

Listening Aids

bowler hat: (BrE infml) a hard round black hat 圆顶硬礼帽

<Typical Englishman?>                                    <Icon of England>

        

In this part, you'll hear Gretel and Mr. Clark talking about "the typical English gentleman".

A. Answer the following questions.

1) What did Gretel want to see in the City of London?

    ______________________________________________________

2) Why was she so surprised?

    ______________________________________________________

3) What did the Englishmen look like?

    ______________________________________________________

4) Why did Gretel think they must be typical English gentlemen?

    ______________________________________________________

5) Did Mr. Clark also think there is such thing as a "typical" Englishman?

    ________________________________________________________________________

6) What English saying did Mr. Clark use to prove his opinion?

    ________________________________________________________________________

B. Write down the poem "If All the Seas Were One Sea".

    __________________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________

    __________________________________________________________________________

Task 2

Listening Aids

compact (adj.): small, but arranged so that everything fits neatly into the space available

humid (adj.): hot and wet in away that makes you feel uncomfortable

Osaka: 大阪【日本本州岛西南岸港市】

You'll listen to a conversation between a British man and a Japanese student comparing life in Britain and Japan.

A. Complete the following sentences with what you hear on the tape.

1) I found that living in Japan, _______________________. They seem to work the whole day.

2) Where I was living in Japan, in the north, it was much ______________, especially in winter, ___________________ centigrade. Does the winter in Osaka ______________ than the winter in England?

3) I found Japan ___________________________ than Britain, especially in the north. The mountains are ___________________________. I found it ______________________ than Britain.

4) And therefore the towns and villages ______________________________.

5) So because the cities are more crowded, __________________________ tend to be ____________, don't they?

B. decide whether the following staements are true (T) or false (F) according to the tape.

1) People need to take three showers a day in the humid and hot summer in Japan. [    ]

2) Winter in Osaka is shorter than that in England. [    ]

3) Estuko thinks the countryside in Japan is more beautiful than that in England. [    ]

4) Britain is mountainous and Japan is much flatter. [    ]

5) Houses in Britain tend to be smaller and compact. [    ]