Unit 2: Why do we study other cultures?

1. Game:
The Q classroom
- Do you like studying other cultures? Gain knowledge, know customs, make friends, understand people,
- Why do we study other cultures?
Teacher: Here we are at Unit 2. The Unit Question is “Why do we study other cultures?” Marcus, why do
you think we study other cultures?
Marcus: Well, people everywhere are so different. Different ____________________(1), different
customs, different beliefs.
Teacher: Yes, that’s true. Yuna, do you like to study other cultures?
Yuna: Yes. It’s very interesting.
Teacher: So other cultures are definitely __________________(2), but that’s not the only reason we study
them. Why else do we study other cultures, Felix?
Felix: We can learn from other cultures. We learn new ways to do things.
….
Teacher: What do you think, Sophy? Why else do we study other cultures?
Sophy: Well, we don’t just learn about our _________________(3). We also learn about what makes us
the same. That helps us understand and accept each other. This helps us live together peacefully.
- Broaden my mind, widen my knowledge, learn more experience, enlarge social circle, ….
2. Vocabulary

- difficulty /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/ (n) Khó khăn
- make a big mistake  /mɪˈsteɪk/ (n) gây ra 1 lỗi lầm
lớn
- death /deθ/ (n) cái chết
- custom /ˈkʌstəm/ (n) phong tục
- go to somewhere on business /ˈbɪznəs/đi đến
đâu đó để công tác
- travel advice /ˈtrævl/ /ədˈvaɪs/ (n) lời khuyên
cho du lịch
- the Middle East /ðə ˌmɪdl ˈiːst/ (n) Trung Đông
- bottom /ˈbɒtəm/ (n) đáy, đế
- smell /smel/ (v) ngửi thấy có vẻ
- advertise /ˈædvətaɪz/ (v) quảng cáo
- advertising /ˈædvətaɪzɪŋ/ (n) sự quảng cáo
- advertisement /ədˈvɜːtɪsmənt/ (n) mẫu quảng
cáo
- product /ˈprɒdʌkt/ (n) sản phẩm
-
- East /iːst/ (n) hướng Đông
 Eastern /ˈiːstən/ (adj) nằm ở hướng Đông
- Europe /ˈjʊərəp/ (n) Châu Âu
 European /ˌjʊərəˈpiːən/ (adj) thuộc về Châu Âu
- positive /ˈpɒzətɪv/ (adj) tích cực
# negative /ˈneɡətɪv/ (adj) tiêu cực

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Listening 1: International Advertising
Professor: Good afternoon, class. Our topic today is international advertising – how companies sell products in
different countries. I’ll talk about the difficulties of advertising in different cultures.
These days, many companies are international. Most large companies sell their products around the world,
and many small countries sell their products on websites. But companies can have problems when they
advertise products in other countries.
Sometimes the problem is a ____________________(1). A product name or an advertisement can have a
funny or strange meaning in another language. For example, a few years ago, a large international computer
named its new product Vista. Later, the company learned that the word “vista” means chicken in some
_________________________(2) languages. The company didn’t change the name of its product. But the
example shows that it’s important to think about language in international advertising.
Another problem is color. Colors have different meanings in different cultures. For example, the color red
means good luck in many countries, so it’s usually good to use red in advertisements. The color blue usually
has a ____________________(3) meaning also. But white means ____________________(4) in North
America. As you can see, it’s important for companies to know the meaning of colors in the country where
they are selling their products.
International customs another difficulty in advertising. As you know, different cultures sometimes have very
different ideas about things. Companies should learn the __________________(5) of the countries where they
sell their products. Then they can avoid mistakes like this one by an international telephone company. The
company made a TV advertisement for the _______________________(6). It showed a businessman talking
on the phone with his feed up to his desk. The problem was, in the Middle East, it’s not polite to show the
________________________(7) of your shoes. The company lost a lot of money and had to make a new
advertisement.
Vocabulary
- carefully /ˈkeəfəli/ (adv) một cách cẩn thận - considerate /kənˈsɪdərət/ (adj) ân cần, chu đáo
- confused /kənˈfjuːzd/ (adj) bối rối - caring /ˈkeərɪŋ/ (adj) tử tế, có ích
- offended /əˈfendɪd/ (adj) bị xúc phạm - thoughtful /ˈθɔːtfl/ (adj) biết suy nghĩ
- rude /ruːd/ (adj) thô lỗ - kind /kaɪnd/ (adj) tử tế
- upset /ʌpˈset/ (adj) buồn # unkind /ˌʌnˈkaɪnd/ (adj) không tử tế
- the Ukraine /juːˈkreɪn/ (n) U rai na - treat /triːt/ (v) đối xử, sự thiết đãi
- offer /ˈɒfə(r)/ (v) cho, tặng - avoid /əˈvɔɪd/ (v) tránh
- business card /ˈbɪznəs/ /kɑːd/ (n) danh thiếp - behave /bɪˈheɪv/ (v) đối xử
kinh doanh - cheerful /ˈtʃɪəfl/ (adj) vui vẻ
- bookstore /ˈbʊkstɔːr/ (n) tiệm sách - stressful /ˈstresfl/ (adj) có tính căng thẳng
- enjoyable /ɪnˈdʒɔɪəbl/ (adj) thú vị - worried /ˈwʌrid/ (adj) lo lắng
- tough /tʌf/ (adj) khó khăn - meal /miːl/ (n) bữa ăn
- challenging ˈtʃælɪndʒɪŋ/ (adj) có tính thử thách - neatly /ˈniːtli/ (adv) một cách gọn gàng
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 - conservatively /kənˈsɜːvətɪvli/ (adv) kín đáo
- receive a gift /rɪˈsiːv/ /ɡɪft/ (vp) nhận một món
quà
1. Joao from Brazil
Joao: When I came to the United States to study, a lot of things were different. The language, my classes at
the university… I knew about those _________________________(1). But one day, I went to the university
bookstore to buy books for my history class. There was another student standing in front of the shelf. I
___________________(2) next to her and started to look for my book. The she looked very upset and said,
“Excuse me!” and moved away. I didn’t know what was wrong. I was confused. I learned later that you should
stand very ________________(3) to other people in the U.S. It’s rude to stand too close.
2. Tanya from Russia
Tanya: Last summer, my company sent me to work for two months at our head office in Toronto. It was a
great experience. My Canadian co-workers were really __________________(4), and I learned a lot. There was
one funny thing that happened. When it was time for me to leave, my co-workers had a goodbye party for me.
They gave me some very nice gifts…and they gave me flowers – six flowers. In Russia, it’s OK to give an odd
number of flowers, for example, one, three, five…but you shouldn’t give two, four, or six flowers. We only do
that when a person ____________________(5). I wasn’t really offended. My co-workers didn’t know our
____________________(6), but some other Russians may feel angry or upset at this.
3. Rick from the U.S.
Rick: My friend Hiro got married last summer in Japan, and he ________________(7) me to the wedding. I was
a great trip. I really enjoyed meeting Hiro’s family and the other guests at the wedding. Many people gave me
___________________(8). I was a little surprised. In the U.S., we only use cards for business, so I didn’t bring
mine. I just took the Japanese people’s business cards and put them in my pocket. After the wedding, I learned
that it’s _________________(9) to do that. You should always take the cards with ________________(10) and
read them carefully. I only used one hand, and I didn’t read them at all!.
Listen to a student’s story about living in Australia. Use the context to guess the meaning.
1. Last summer, I stayed in Australia. It was my first time away from home for such a long time. In the
beginning, I felt really ____________________(1). I didn’t know I would miss my family so much.
2. The first few weeks were ___________________(2). I often felt lonely, and I wanted to go home.
3. But the family I lived with was great. They were very kind and _______________________(3).
4. They taught me about Australian culture and customs. And they _____________________(4) me like a
member of the family. That really helped me feel better.
5. After a few weeks, I didn’t miss home so much. I felt happy and _______________________(5) again.
In fact, I didn’t want to come home at the end of the summer!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

1. Do you know any of the customs from Listening 2?
2. Do you have an example of a cultural problem? Tell your classmates the story.
3. What problems can happen when people don’t know about another culture?

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 USEFUL ENGLISH PHRASES FOR A PRESENTATION
https://www.topcorrect.com/blog/useful-english-phrases-for-a-presentation/
WELCOME
Good morning/afternoon/evening, ladies and gentlemen/everyone/ Hi, everyone.
INTRODUCING THE TOPIC
Today I am here to talk to you about…
What I am going to talk about today is…
I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you about…
EXPLANATION OF GOALS
The purpose of this presentation is…
My objective today is…
STRUCTURE
My talk/presentation is divided into “x” parts.
I’ll start with…/First, I will talk about…/I’ll begin with…
…then I will look at…
…next…
and finally…
STARTING POINT
Let me start with some general information on…
Let me begin by explaining why/how…
Before I start, does anyone know…
END OF A SECTION
That’s all I have to say about…
We’ve looked at…
INTERIM CONCLUSION
To sum up…
Let’s summarize briefly what we have looked at.
Well, that’s about it for this part. We’ve covered…
TRANSITION
I’d now like to move on to the next part…
This leads me to my next point, which is…
Let’s now turn to…
EXAMPLES
For example,…
A good example of this is…
To give you an example,…
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
I’d like to conclude by…
In conclusion, let me sum up my main points.
That brings me to the end of my presentation. Thank you for listening/your attention.
Thank you all for listening. It was a pleasure being here today.
That brings me to the end of my presentation. Thanks for your attention.

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 Reading
Describe a foreign culture that you like. You should say
 what culture it is and how you know about it
 what differences there are between that culture and your own
 and why you like that foreign culture.

- (Couch surfing) Du lịch hoà nhập cộng đồng

o Couch surfing refers to a form of tourism in which travellers sleep over at the house of local people
during their trip
o They can sleep in any available space in the house, including a bed, a couch, or the floor
o Normally, people get to know each other and exchange personal information on the website in
advance, and then, local people are willing to provide accomodation whenever the travellers arrive
at their expected destination.
 Couch surfing can help round-the-world travellers with tight budget make their dreams come true
 Travellers can great blend in / fit in with local life by living with local residents 
 Travellers can explore and make meaningful connections with people and places they arrive 
 They can share more about culture, tradition, lifestyle, food , and values
 The distance between travellers and local people can be shortened 
- (Car pooling) Đi chung xe 
o Carpooling is the sharing of a car during a journey; there will be more than one passenger to bear
the cost
 The cost of driving can be reduced, including fuel costs, toll fares (phí cầu đường), and other
expenses
 It is environmentally friendly and sustainable and produces less gas emission
 Traffic congestion can be eased since there will be fewer cars on the streets
 People get a ride of lift instead of walking where public transport is unavailable
 It is convenient and efficient during high seasons 
- (Group buying / purchasing) mua chung
o Introduction: 
 Group buying is a modern type of consumption. Specifically, when a certain number of
people are signing up for the same item, the discount or price reduction will be available for
all 
o Advantages 
 It has great money value, which is attractive for bargain shoppers 
 Those group-buying websites provide refund service after the deals expire
 The business provides undifferentiated service 
 Heaps of update information comes up all the time
 It makes a triple-win situation for merchants, group-buying websites, and consumers 
- �French lifestyle 
o The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about France is the bread
o I really like the cafe culture in France. In fact, you can always find somewhere interesting to sit and
have a coffee and chat to friends or just watch the world go by 
o I actually put on a bit of weight when I lived in France because I got into a habit of having a
croissant or a cake in every nice cafe that I found

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 Speaking
- Do online assignment Unit 2
- Upload a video on Fligrid, answer these questions
1. Do you think it’s important to know about other cultures?
I do think it’s extremely important to learn about other cultures. Not only can you find out interesting things,
but it makes it easier to interact with those people if you ever come in contact with them. Also, it makes it a
lot easier to do business with those cultures.
For example, …..
It’s important to be educated about the world and not just shut yourself into your own country.
1.2 How important it is to learn about other people’s cultures?
Answer: Learning about other people’s cultures is very important in today’s globalized world. Cultural
knowledge is required everywhere, be it business or travel or work. If we are familiar with the culture of a
place, we can understand people better. This will make our work and life easier in a new place.

2. How can we benefit from learning about other cultures?

Several ways that people can benefit from other cultures are in business, personal relationships, and just in
self-improvement. In business, it is necessary to know a little bit about whatever culture you plan to work
with. For instance, I think in Muslim cultures, shaking hands with your left hand is considered extremely rude.
If you didn’t know that, it could hurt your chances of doing business. Also, it’s important just to improve
yourself by learning as much as you can, and culture is a good subject.

3. What do you think is the best way to learn about another culture?
Obviously, the best way to learn about a culture is to go there and experience it. If you can get a feel for the
culture firsthand, it will be a lot easier to pick things up, but I also believe that you can learn a ton about other
cultures just by reading books about them. Reading about people’s experiences in foreign lands is the next
best thing to being there.

4. Do you think that learning foreign languages can help us understand foreign cultures?
I’m not sure that just learning the language is a good way to learn about a culture, but most places where you
would learn a language would help you learn about the culture, so indirectly, yes. The language alone isn’t
great for understanding culture. For instance, German is a really harsh language, but Germans aren’t harsh
people. You really need to study more than the language if you want to get to know a culture.

5. Do you think it’s better to go overseas to study a foreign language or to study it in your home country?
I think it is better to study a language in its native country. When you do that, you are engulfed in the
language and forced to encounter it outside of the classroom. Otherwise, your only exposure to the language
is when you’re studying or in the classroom. I know firsthand that when learning a foreign language in your
home country, it is easy to lose what you have learned.
- Engulf /ɪnˈɡʌlf/ (v) to surround or to cover somebody/something completely

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6. What difficulties can people living in a foreign country experience?
- Answer A: In my view, the biggest problem which someone who does not live in their own country face is
understanding the local language and culture. Loneliness, finding schools for their children, not getting the
food of their choice and the weather are some other common difficulties which people experience in a
new country.
- Answer B: I believe the most significant difficulties about living in a foreign country would have to do with
understanding cultural norms and unspoken rules, especially during social interactions. Misunderstandings
can be common phenomena. Generally fitting in as well as feeling like you belong would be another big
challenges.
-
7. Do you think it’s easier to learn about other cultures today than it was before?
Yes, of course, it is. All you have to do is to look at art from long ago, about foreign cultures and you can see
the lack of knowledge people had. Today, with the Internet and the number of books available, it is almost
impossible to be ignorant. It is so easy to learn about anything you want.

8. What negative effects might come from a country losing its traditional cultures?.
Answer: The loss of traditional cultures can affect a country in many ways. If there are businesses based on
traditional skills, cultural loss can affect the economy of a country. Since traditional cultures represent a
country, major changes in cultures can have an impact on tourism in that country.
For example,…

9. What are some important things people from other cultures should know about your culture?

10. What people should do and should not do in Vietnam?

Vocabulary:
1. cultural diversity: sự đa dạng văn hóa
2. cultural identity: bản sắc văn hóa
3. cultural assimilation: sự đồng hóa văn hóa
4. Cultural heritage: di sản văn hóa
5. Culture shock and other culture-related problems: sốc văn hóa và những vấn đề khác liên quan đến văn
hóa
6. Experience great culture shock: trải qua cú sốc văn hóa lớn
7. to abandon one’s own culture: từ bỏ văn hóa của ai đó
1. traditional beliefs and customs: các phong tục và niềm tin truyền thống
2. to adopt a new culture: theo một nền văn hóa mới
3. to be in danger of extinction: đứng trước nguy cơ tuyệt chủng
4. to experience great culture shock: trải qua cú sốc văn hóa lớn
5. to bring a wide range of benefits to…: mang lại nhiều lợi ích cho…
6. to have a negative/detrimental impact on…: có tác động tiêu cực lên…
7. to get deeper insight into…: có được cái nhìn sâu sắc hơn về…
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8. to show great respect for…: thể hiện sự tôn trọng ai đó/điều gì đó
9. the growing influence of western culture: sự ảnh hưởng ngày càng tăng của văn hóa phương Tây
10. the disapearance of some minority languages: sự biến mất của 1 số ngôn ngữ thiểu số
11. a multicultural society: một xã hội đa văn hóa
12. people of different cultural backgrounds: người thuộc các nền văn hóa khác nhau
13. to instil cultural and traditional values into somebody: thấm nhuần các giá trị truyền thống và văn hóa
vào ai đó
14. the loss of traditional cultures = the disapearance of traditional ways of life: sự mất đi các văn hóa truyền
thống
15. Travel to other countries for experiencing culture diversity: đi du lịch nước ngoài để trải nghiệm sự đa
dạng văn hóa
16. A strong sense of identity: một cái tôi/bản sắc mạnh mẽ
17. Broaden their horizons: mở mang tầm nhìn của họ
18. Lead to tension and conflict: dẫn tới căng thẳng và xung đột
19. Drawback: A disadvantage or problem
Eg: Every situation has advantages and drawbacks
20. Harsh: Rude
Eg: Mr.Smith was very harsh with the students. 
21. Outweigh: Be heavier, greater
Eg: He has his faults, but his good qualities outweigh them
22. Engulfed: (of a natural force) sweep over (something) so as to surround or cover it completely.
Eg: Sorrow engulfed him when he sold his property

Examples:
 Foreign literature books provide kids with in-depth knowledge about cultural and traditional values
of different parts of the world.
Sách văn học nước ngoài cung cấp cho trẻ em kiến thức chuyên sâu về các giá trị văn hóa và truyền thống của
các khu vực khác nhau trên thế giới.
 This can help them to avoid culture shock or other culture-related problems when they travel abroad
or work for an international company in the future.
Điều này có thể giúp họ tránh sốc văn hóa hoặc các vấn đề liên quan đến văn hóa khác khi họ đi ra nước ngoài
hoặc làm việc cho một công ty quốc tế trong tương lai.
 They get a deeper insight into the culture by immersing themselves in the local community.
Họ có thể hiểu rõ hơn về văn hóa bằng cách gắn chặt mình vào cộng đồng địa phương. 
 They might be faced with unfamiliar customs and different beliefs, which could easily lead
to misunderstanding, tension and conflicts.
Họ có thể phải đối mặt với phong tục xa lạ và niềm tin khác nhau, điều này dễ dẫn đến sự hiểu lầm, căng
thẳng và xung đột.