Thread: Yanks, Aussies, Brits: Help my class!

What is the difference between your country's culture and Canada's? (or Canadian and others' if you are Canadian)?

I teach an ESL class to foreign students. Right now they're all Korean. We need stuff to read for the Canadian Culture week of the program. I'm gonna open the floor to you good folks, print this out on Friday and let them read it and discuss.

They are adults but try and mind your language as I have to present this in class. Let us know the differences you see in English countries' cultures???

Humor.

American: Horse walks in to a bar, bartender says 'why the long face?'

South African: 'It would seem something has been lost in translation, please bear with me as English is my thirteenth language.'

British: 'That's the trouble with you Yanks, always feel that making fun of horses is good humor, youre quite uncivilized.'

French: 'In my country, horses can be rolled in to the finest of cigarettes.'

Canadian: 'Horse walks in to a bar hey, mind if I steal that one? Horse walks in to a bar, his name is Hal or something, and he lights up a smoke, and the bartender says hey Hal, how's the misus?'

Korean: 'Is this bar within walking distance?'

Originally Posted by Dr.Knuckles

What is the difference between your country's culture and Canada's? (or Canadian and others' if you are Canadian)?

I teach an ESL class to foreign students. Right now they're all Korean. We need stuff to read for the Canadian Culture week of the program. I'm gonna open the floor to you good folks, print this out on Friday and let them read it and discuss.

They are adults but try and mind your language as I have to present this in class. Let us know the differences you see in English countries' cultures???

These are all generalizations:

Canadians:
Well-educated, trustworthy, trusting, hard working, well travelled and can see the big picture:
convinced themselves they were poorer than Americans because of their superior morals, and now spend their lives having to live up to those morals. Which is actually a good thing.
Best people in the world (IMHO)...

South Africans (white)
Male:
Arrogant, self assured, driven, cliquey, little time for idiots- and anyone with an opposing point of view is an idiot. Can have a really blunt, bullying sense of humor.
secretly miss having slaves to boss around. sometimes not so secret about it...
Female:
highly sociable, duty-driven, hard-working, highly emphatic to others in distress
their mothers were proud of themselves for having worked out how to use a washing machine for the first time at age 42, and that memory of self-sufficiency has stuck - bore the brunt of losing domestic help but had to rise to the challenge and proud of themselves for it.

Australians:
Seemingly open and friendly, but actually quite capable of sneaky, underhanded behavior. Look to the US and UK both as role models, and see themselves as somewhere in between the two. Obsessed with image and tax avoidance. Pretend they are country people but actually its the most urbanized society in the world. Love talking to foreigners but only about themselves, or where they have been, or who they are (referencing a pre-set image). Can be very humorous with it, though, and excellent at imaginative insults and profanities. Worth reading some of the Australian parliamentary exchanges- seriously -they actually make it funny!

British:
English: Generally very aware of world issues and how they fit into them, the physical limitations of their armed forces and sporting prowess. Constantly frustrated by the weight of government and yet the first to say "something ought to be done about...". Stand-offish to strangers but if you have an "in" into a social circle, very friendly and open, until you leave whereupon you are instantly forgotten. Easy with compliments to white foreigners along the lines of pre-conceived national traits, thinking this is actually knowledge of the foreign country and expecting you to be impressed by their worldiness.

New Zealanders: Miniature Canadians.

Americans: "I am what I am and if you don't like it thats your problem and why don't people like us because I like me and if you don't like us we can bomb you and the hell with it even if you like us we can bomb you and we don't need anybody else anyway so SHUT THE FUCK UP"

The one thing he asked for is discression for language, and you threw it in his face, you must be Russian.