ALC MARRAKESH ADV 5

Intensive listening : Summit 2 Unit 4 P.44

A : Good evening and welcome to our continuing discussion of cultural differences in how people express anger. On the line, I have celina

Gaspari, a sales manager calling in from the city of Rosario in Argentina. Good evening, Celina

B: Good evening.

A: And Joseph Chu, a computer technician calling from the city of Tainan in Taiwan. Good morning to you, Joseph. Sorry to get you up

so early over there.

C: No problem. I always get up this time. Thanks for having me.

A: Joseph , is there any way to generalize about how people in Taiwan handle anger? I mean, I’ve heard that culturally, it’s unacceptable

or inappropriate to express anger openly there. Is that true?

C: Well, it depends on the situation. But in Chinese culture, we’re probably less inclined to lose our cool publicly.

A: And I imagine the opposite is true in Argentina. Celina?

B: Definitely. But Argentina is somewhat unique in that there are lots of people - myself included – whose background is Italian. I think the

way people express anger in other Latin American countries may be somewhat different.

A: In what way?

B: Well, I used to live and work in Lima, the capital of Peru-for about seven years. Our boss – a guy named Alejandro – was, like me, from

Argentina. But most of our colleagues were Peruvian. I remember one day having a loud disagreement about something with my boss

– like any Argentinean might do. Alejandro and I were good friends and colleagues, so we didn’t hold anything in. And all of a sudden

this Peruvian woman, Amparo, leaves the room – but she has this funny look on her face. So I was concerned and stepped outside to see

if everything was OK. It turns out she completely freaked out about our argument. She thought it was really serious. I had to calm her

down and explain that was just how Argentineans talk to each other when they disagree about something . I'm sure that, to her, we

sounded like we were really having a fit, but to us it was nothing.

A: That's really interesting. Reminds me of the many films depicting Italian families arguing over dinner.

B: Exactly.

A: So, Joseph, how are things different in Taiwan?

C: Well, generally speaking, I think it would be very unusual for someone to express anger at an authority figure, like in the case of

Celina's story, a boss or a manager. That would just not be considered appropriate. Speaking for myself, if I were mad at my boss about

something, I certainly wouldn't lose my temper - or even bring it up.

A: So what would you do instead?

C: I might let off a little steam by taking a walk or venting to a colleague about what happened. But I'd try not to let it show in any way –

to my boss, I mean. I'd definitely keep it to myself.

A: What if one of your friends or colleagues did something that made you mad? Don't people in Taiwan ever go ballistic when they're

angry about something?

C: Of course. People sometimes get really angry about politics, for example. And I wouldn't want to suggest that everyone is the same.

A: Of course not.

C: But you asked about generalizations. I would say we're a little slower to anger here than people in some other places. We tend to just let

things go - you'd have to be pretty upset about something before you'd actually express any anger, much less lose your temper.

B: Excuse me for interrupting, but I just had to say ... That's definitely not true in Argentina. I am I may be over-generalizing a bit, but I'd

say people from Argentina don't usually hold things in.

A: Clearly two very different way of handling anger. So Joseph, give us an example.

C: Let's say you're supposed to meet a friend for lunch and he makes you wait a long time before he finally shows up. Most people here

wouldn't even bring it up with that friend. But if that happens all the time with the same friend - well, you'd probably finally say

something. But you'd certainly not have an outburst of anger or anything like that.

A: So it sounds like people in Taiwan generally keep things inside rather than make an issue out of every little thing.

C: I’d say that ,yeah.

A: And I guess things would have to get really bad before anyone actually had a total fit about something, right?

C: Right. But even then losing your cool with your a friend or a colleague would be really unusual. As I mentioned before, people here

are fairly reluctant to express their anger.

A: Celina, based on what you told us earlier about you and your boss, I would guess the total opposite is true for Argentineans.

B: That's right. Between friends, not getting angry ever would be pretty unusual. If your friend does something that makes you angry, you

say something.

A: What about in Taiwan, Joseph?

C: You might raise your voice a little - but not as much as people probably do in other places. You might even bring something up that

bothered you- but nicely. I can't imagine anyone actually going ballistic with a friend or colleague. It would be really surprising.

A: What about people who don't know each other - people who are complete strangers? For example, what would happen if you were

driving your car and someone just cut you off?

C: Ah, road rage. That's one situation that might set someone off. Some people might even open the window and say something to the

other driver- loudly!

A: Even you?

C: Me? Well, I might get mad, but I probably wouldn't do or say anything about it. But that's just me.

A: And road rage in Argentina,Celina?

B: We tell bad driver off whether the window is open or not. It's no big deal.

A: Well, thank you both for joining us.