Cultural Awareness and Understanding - Essay Example

?Running Head: Culture Awareness and understanding Cultural Awareness and understanding Every nation has its own culture, own norms and values. Thousands of people get identified with the help of the norm they follow. Culture is usually defined as a set of rules, norms and values that one should follow being in a society or a particular group. The United States of American culture is identified as a Western culture, having been typically impressed by European cultures. It has been upgrading since long before the United States appeared as country with its own unique identity with social and cultural properties such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore. Now, the United States of America is famous as an ethnically and racially diverse region as an output of large-scale immigration from various countries throughout its history (McDonald & James 2010). Original elements in United States are now reformed with the combination of many different cultures. A number of people have migrated to United States and today, they have their own colonies, areas where they live with their families and follow their own norms regardless of state’s culture they reside. American culture have elements of both conservative and liberal city, military and scientific competitiveness, it has political issues, risk taking and free expression, capitalist and moral elements (Marsden & George, 1990). Despite certain coherent ideological rules (e.g., egalitarianism, individualism and faith in democracy), American culture has a wide range of faces due to its demographic scale and geographical diversity. The tractability of U.S. culture and its extremely symbolic nature lead some investigators to categorize American culture as a mythological identity (Jefferson &Thomas, 1904). I have researched English culture and Asian culture. In my state, these cultures are usually known as minority cultures, especially Asian culture. Both cultures look quite different from each other but they have some similarities in them too. In my state, it is a common perception that Asian culture does not match with western one but if one studies it in detail there are similarities too along with dissimilarities. Among all established countries the U.S. is considered as a one of the most religious region on the globe in means of its demographics and geographic conditions. As per one study conducted in 2002 by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, renowned as one of the U.S. authorized survey project identified that the U.S. was the only developed nation around the globe where a number of citizens described that religion played a significant role in their daily lives, a behavior same to that identified in its neighbors in Latin America (Ehrenreich & Barbara, 1989). Nowadays, governments at the national, state, and at small levels are profane institution, with what is often known the "separation of state and church" common. But like federal politics, the hot line of religion in the United States can give rise to an emotionally hot debate over moral, ethical and legal problems affecting Americans of all beliefs in their daily life, such as hot issues like abortion, gay marriage and the most common obscenity (Klapthor & James 2003). The American culture is very famous for politeness and the people are considered the most polite nation around the globe. At a glance, they seem very polite, kind and humble, they do not lie, do not fraud and do not wait for miracles (Marcus& Greil, 2007). They believe on hard work and instant results. They always prefer to join the queue from back and wait for their turn when purchasing tickets, waiting in a bank, post office or for a bus or train (Marian & Beane, 2009). If one jumps the queue in U.S.A will be known as a queue jumper and although all may not say anything to him, they will make unpleasant noises! UK Women are considered as equal to men, and likely to be treated fairly. It is common for men and women to have an equal part of the household works and childcare (Kirchner and J. Sperling, 2007). Most English people take meal three times a day. Breakfast is normally light meal during the week such as cereal, toast but a more significant cooked breakfast of eggs, tomato and bacon is sometimes eaten at the weekends. They take heavy lunch and light dinners. Alcohol is illegal for under age people, over 18 utilization of alcohol is common. Some Disco clubs and bars have an age limit of over 21. If one seem younger than 18 one may be inquired to demonstrate photo ID in the type of a passport or driving license (Ann Curthoys, 2004). In U.S.A driving is usually on the left. Children in USA are often asked to mind their Ps and Qs’ P is used for Please and Q is used for Thank you. English people belief in one GOD but shapes is different. They mostly speak English language. Asians are renowned as the best culture followers; their beliefs are very strong about their GOD, religion. They belief on one God known “Allah”. They do not use drugs and alcohol is prohibited among them as per their religion. Women have equal rights with men but they are considered as the followers of men. Most of men take part in household and childcare activities but it is not a compulsion for them. Women are asked to cover themselves with the aid of Abaya or a large cloth while going out. Asians take three meals during the day; they usually go for heavy breakfast, light lunch and heavy dinner. They prefer spicy foods and pickles. They are speakers of many different languages such as Urdu, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali etc. SOP: To investigate about subcultures in United States of America. Conclusion There are thousands of nation in the world. However, few are known as major nations and few are considered minor due to their norms, populations and strength. In United States, there are several nations live in majority and minority, due to rapid immigration, United States has become the most diverse region in the world. English and Asian are considered the most popular nations in the world, they have lots of similarities and dissimilarities but their beliefs are totally different and they do not ready to compromise on their believes at all. Similarities There are few similarities in both nations such as women rights, eating habits, men and women daily activities etc. Dissimilarities in both nations include believes about GOD and their messengers, women rights, taste of food, drugs usage, alcohol utilization etc. Methods of collecting information: While doing research there are two ways to collect information, primary and secondary. I have adopted primary approach for doing the research. I have collected information from various online resources such as online journals, books, reviews. I did not conducted secondary research that based on conducting surveys, questionnaires and personal interviews. Information collected from A guide to English culture and customs was the most important as it provided a lot of information about English culture and their believes. Feelings being a teacher The report and research play a significant role in studies. Being in United States there are a number of students come from different cultures. To deal with all students equally, it is really important to know about their cultures, habits and mental setup. In order to avoid biasness, it is important to understand the white and black of cultures. References Ann Curthoys., (2004), Marilyn Lake Connected worlds: history in transnational perspective, Volume I p.151. Australian National University Press. E. J. Kirchner and J. Sperling, (2007), Global Security Governance: Competing Perceptions of Security in the 21st Century (London: Taylor & Francis), p. 100. Ehrenreich, Barbara (1989). Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-0973331. Jefferson, Thomas (1904). The writings of Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association of the United States. pp. 119. Klapthor, James N. (2003). "What, When, and Where Americans Eat in 2003". Institute of Food Technologists, Retrieved 2007-06-19. Marcus, Greil (2007). The Shape of Things to Come: Prophecy and the American Voice. Macmillan, ISBN 0312426429. Marian Beane, (2009), American Culture, retrieved: 1-08-2001:http://www.internationalstudentguidetotheusa.com/articles/culture.php McDonald, James (2010) Interplay: Communication, Memory, and Media in the United States, Goettingen: Cuvillier, p. 120. ISBN 3-86955-322-7 Marsden, George M. (1990). Religion and American Culture. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, pp.45-46 Read More