ESL 21B

Essay 1.2

Cultural Values

InPreposition cultural values and assumptions while in a foreign country or community, each person from different countrySing/Plu doesn't need to "all share exactly the same values to exactly the same extent{1}," because they have their own way to live. In the article, "American values and assumptions about human nature and social relationship," heReference not clear pointed outWChoice "equality and informality" for Americans. Comparing to people who got already used to Korean culture with AmericanAwkward, few things wereVTense different{***}Punctuation such as women smoking and formal ways of speaking. Today, step by step, most people from different countries try to understand each culture.Choppy

Americans believe that all men are created equal, and both sexes have a same right for living or working. However, to preserve old fashion such as women never smokeWForm in front of older people or men is still important to some Koreans{***}Fragment. In America, we could see that a lot of people don't care ether women smokingWForm in theArt public or not. It seems still no good for me because I am not used to this culture yet. When my grandparents first visited in America, I remember what they said to me, "Oh my god, look at those girl. They are smoking with their parents. They must not know what the formality is," and I said "it is normal here, it is not that they don't know how to do it." The thing was that those girls were grownWChoice in different culture. Now, when my grandparents visit in America, it seems that they just enjoy watching those kinds of girls. Accepting the different culture might not easy to them because they thought that no women smoke on the street like Korean women. In other words, understanding the different culture is difficult toPreposition all new comers, however, when they accept it, itReference not clear will be a new exciting life that they will live in.

The most confusedWForm oneReference not clear was ways of speaking to older people for me when I tried to adjust to the new environment. In America, etherSpl my parents or not, people communicate with "You". They are using this to even their parents, friends and everybody. For example, "Father! Did you eat something?" and "Hey bro! Did you eat something?" these are same expression, and there is no respect to the parents in their language. Even though <there are> some areCut respectful expressions such as "Would you mind if I do it?" or "May I do it?" when you call somebody, they always use "You." However, there {***}MissingWso many words to speakWChoice to older people or parents. Through how they speak to other people, most Koreans tend to distinguish the formalitiesCount/Non-Count. The waysVague that Cut when people meet each other for the first time,Conj/Trans when they meet as a friend or co-worker are different. Sometimes, when I talk to people who are older than me in English, I feel sorry about calling{***}MissingW "You". This can be also a cultural difference. People should understand that it is not odd to use "You" to anybody because Americans have never thought about it, and it is normal.

In sum, as a foreigner or new comer who tries to learn about different culture, people need to accept and understand all if they can. However, they don't need to follow the same {***}MissingWexactly. For some counties, people look at women smoking differently, but other counties don't. Also, every country has its own way of respect. We cannot make the answer that this is right and follow this culture. Understanding is big enough.