ABCs of World Culture What is culture l

ABC’s of World Culture

What is culture? l Culture life. is a people’s whole way of Students at Kitami Ryokuryo ride bike to school every day

You learn culture. l Culture is learned behavior – you are not born with it.

You learn culture through language. l. A baby born in China and raised in Canada will speak English with a Canadian accent and grow up to behave just like other Canadian children. Children in Japan learn to write using kanji.

Culture is powerful. l Taboos are powerful. Cultural taboos are actions or words that are considered inappropriate to a specific culture. If you were starving is there any food you would reject?

Culture shapes you. l In the 1950 s, our culture encouraged children to be children. l In the 1980 s, our culture encouraged children to be more aware of life around them.

Cultures are the same. Culture is a response to human needs. l Human needs are similar around the world. l We call these cultural universals. l An element, pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all cultures is a cultural universal. l

Cultures are different. People need to eat, but what people eat differs from culture to culture. l People need a family, but families differ from culture to culture. l In one culture a man has one wife, while in another culture a man may have more than one wife. l In one culture a mother-in-law is respected, while in another culture a mother-in-law is the subject of jokes. l

Culture spreads from country to country. The Aztecs invented a chocolate drink. Their Spanish conquerors carried chocolate to Europe. l Cultural Diffusion – spreading of ideas and practices from one culture to another l Can you think of an aspect of another culture that was brought to the United States as people moved here?

Culture is a people’s whole way of life. Everything from A to Z. l Work with a partner l Examine the cultural traits on the handout “Classify this cultural Thing”. l Using “The ABC’s of Culture”, put each thing into its proper category.

Culture if everything from A to Z l Culture is everything, but four things are special. . . ¡ Geography ¡ History ¡ Religion ¡ Language

Geography shapes the culture. l Where you live shapes how you live. ¡ If you live near the equator, it is hot. ¡ Climate shapes your food, clothing, shelter, and recreation. ¡ If you lived near the equator. . . What would you eat? l What would you wear? l How would you build your house? l What do you do for fun? l

l Where you live also has an influence on your actions and behaviors l Culture Region – an area in which people share the same cultural traits

History shapes the culture. l Past experiences shape people’s expectations for the future. l What does a war do to culture? ¡ What kind of war was it like? ¡ Did the country win or lose? ¡ How was life different after the war? l What does a war do to culture?

History shapes culture. l World War I: When soldiers came home, they celebrated. . . Roaring 20 s. l World War II: When soldiers came home, they got married and had lots of babies. . . the Baby Boom. l Vietnam War: When soldiers came home, no one gave them a parade. . . Vietnam was a failure.

Language reflects the culture. l Every culture changes. l As our culture changes and becomes more complicated, we expand our vocabulary. l Dialect – a version of language found only in certain regions l Can you think of words and expressions that relate to computers?

l We can learn a lot about a culture from the words people use. l What do the words on the following pages tell us about the German culture?

l Das Brot (bread) l Pumpernickel (black bread l Volkornbrot (whole grain bread) l In this culture, people love bread.

l Oktoberfest (beer festival in October) l Biergarten (beer garden) l Der Ratskeller (beer cellar) l In this culture, beer is a big deal.

l Bratwurst (a type of sausage) l Knockwurst (a type of sausage) l Leberwurst (liverwurst – ground up sausage) l Blutwurst (blood sausage) l In this culture, eating ground up pig is very popular

l Das Marchen (fairy tale) l Hansel and Gretel l Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs l Little Red Riding Hood l Rapunzel l This culture has produced a lot of fairy tales.

l l l l Bach Handel Beethoven Mendelssohn Schubert Wagner Classical music is very important to this culture

l Mercedes-Benz l BMW l Volkswagen l Autobahn l Cars are central to the German economy.

l Geback (pastry) Berliner (jelly-filled doughnut Amerikaner (a small, flat-topped cake with chocolate and vanilla icing) Sandkuchen (pound cake) Torte (iced cake) l In this culture, fancy pastries are a big deal. l l

Religion shapes culture. l Religion is basic to every culture. l Religion helps to define the values, beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment, that people believe are important. l Religion can guide people’s ethics – standard of accepted behavior.