LESSON 2. STEREOTYPES: TRUTH OR PREJUDICE
Стр. 272 упр. 1
British stereotypes
The most common image people have of a typical Englishman is a man wearing a bowler hat and reading the Times newspaper. Is this your image? «Men wearing bowler hats, a pin striped suit, a newspaper under the arm and carrying a long unopen umbrella. »
Bowler hats are very rarely seen in England today. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen one being worn apart from in the movies!
When I think of the English, I think of .........
«Beer, honesty, Bulldog-type, Royal Family, Cricket, the Weather»
— Dickie Bird (Famous English cricket umpire)
«Long shadows on county cricket grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and old maids bicycling through the morning mist»
— John Major (Ex Prime Minister )
cream teas, Big Ben, Shakespeare, pubs, beefeaters
«I think that English people are quite reserved. I had to laugh when I went by tube and saw everyone sitting and reading their newspapers.»
«Gardening, warm beer, stiff upper lip, double-decker buses, Morris dancing».
«Saying the words 'splendid' and 'terribly' and old fashioned words/ phrases like 'cheerio', 'spiffing' etc, " (We don't say these words!)
Morris Dancing, Royal family, Union Jack, God Save the Queen, Battle of Britain, Trooping the Colour'
«A lot of folks overseas think that the English are crazy about dogs and love them more than their kids!»
«The English eat a big breakfast in the morning with bacon, eggs, baked beans..."
«England is a land of beer, football and bad weather.» (Contrary to popular belief, it DOES NOT rain every day in England!:)
«My in-laws are from the Middle East — they think that we boil all our food. If the truth be told I would rather eat curry than boiled cabbage!»
French stereotypes.
You know what I am talking about: berets, pencil moustaches for the monsieurs hairy armpits for the mademoiselles, striped shirts, wine and baguettes, and incredibly rude. So let's address some of these:
French women do not shave their armpits or legs. False. Sure, maybe some don't, but some don't in the U.S. as well. This was cleared up pretty quickly by a female French volunteer here at the monastery. I quote, "Oh, we do shave, by the way, just like they do in America. I do not know why everyone thinks we don't."
Wine and Cheese and Baguettes. True. The French love their wine and cheese and bread. They are almost always served with dinner here. And why not? They are delicious...
The beret. False. I have yet to see a Frenchman in a beret. I did see a British man wearing one, but that is the only one.
French people stink. Eh. I have passed quite a few very persons who smell a little...ripe, but quite a few do not smell either. If anything, I would say that maybe deodorant/bathing/showering/other stereotypical item missing from French grooming is only slightly less popular here than it is in the states.
The French smoke like chimneys. Partially true. Smoking is very popular here, or so I have observed, and it is must less regulated than it is in America. I'm not saying that all French people smoke, because there is definitely a large portion which does not.
The striped shirt. Eh. Some people where stripes. Some people don't. The end.
The French are very fashionable. True. I have to say, people know how to dress here. You rarely see people slumming around in sweats and hoodies here, and the women especially are usually impeccably dressed.
The French are rude. False. They are no ruder than Americans. They may get frustrated at times when a clearly American person talks to them and expects them to speak English, but that is totally understandable. The French can be blunt at times and like to get to the point. If they need something, they say so. If you are doing something wrong, they do not hesitate to tell you. Стр. 272 упр. 2 a)
Every nationality is surrounded by different types of stereotypes. The Republic of Belarus is not an exception. The streets in Minsk (the capital of
Belarus) are extremely clean, people are very polite and tolerant, and potatoes are the main dish. Стр. 273 упр. 2b)
1. It wasn't very easy to write the stereotypes in previous exercises.
2. The statements didn't make me feel uncomfortable.
3. Im general, my responses were positive. Стр. 274 упр. 4a)
The author is unhappy because he faced with the new information about his country's stereotypes that are not true at all. So that's why he decided to write this article. Стр. 276 упр. 4b)
The Chinese are known as hardworking and progressive and that is true because of their high economy level.
It is dangerous to think so because it's wrong to generalize all people. Every person is unique and has his own personality so that doesn't mean that if people judge the whole nation to be lazy that this person is lazy too so this fact can be very offensive.
British stereotypes
The most common image people have of a typical Englishman is a man wearing a bowler hat and reading the Times newspaper. Is this your image? «Men wearing bowler hats, a pin striped suit, a newspaper under the arm and carrying a long unopen umbrella. »
Bowler hats are very rarely seen in England today. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen one being worn apart from in the movies!
When I think of the English, I think of .........
«Beer, honesty, Bulldog-type, Royal Family, Cricket, the Weather»
— Dickie Bird (Famous English cricket umpire)
«Long shadows on county cricket grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and old maids bicycling through the morning mist»
— John Major (Ex Prime Minister )
cream teas, Big Ben, Shakespeare, pubs, beefeaters
«I think that English people are quite reserved. I had to laugh when I went by tube and saw everyone sitting and reading their newspapers.»
«Gardening, warm beer, stiff upper lip, double-decker buses, Morris dancing».
«Saying the words 'splendid' and 'terribly' and old fashioned words/ phrases like 'cheerio', 'spiffing' etc, " (We don't say these words!)
Morris Dancing, Royal family, Union Jack, God Save the Queen, Battle of Britain, Trooping the Colour'
«A lot of folks overseas think that the English are crazy about dogs and love them more than their kids!»
«The English eat a big breakfast in the morning with bacon, eggs, baked beans..."
«England is a land of beer, football and bad weather.» (Contrary to popular belief, it DOES NOT rain every day in England!:)
«My in-laws are from the Middle East — they think that we boil all our food. If the truth be told I would rather eat curry than boiled cabbage!»
French stereotypes.
You know what I am talking about: berets, pencil moustaches for the monsieurs hairy armpits for the mademoiselles, striped shirts, wine and baguettes, and incredibly rude. So let's address some of these:
French women do not shave their armpits or legs. False. Sure, maybe some don't, but some don't in the U.S. as well. This was cleared up pretty quickly by a female French volunteer here at the monastery. I quote, "Oh, we do shave, by the way, just like they do in America. I do not know why everyone thinks we don't."
Wine and Cheese and Baguettes. True. The French love their wine and cheese and bread. They are almost always served with dinner here. And why not? They are delicious...
The beret. False. I have yet to see a Frenchman in a beret. I did see a British man wearing one, but that is the only one.
French people stink. Eh. I have passed quite a few very persons who smell a little...ripe, but quite a few do not smell either. If anything, I would say that maybe deodorant/bathing/showering/other stereotypical item missing from French grooming is only slightly less popular here than it is in the states.
The French smoke like chimneys. Partially true. Smoking is very popular here, or so I have observed, and it is must less regulated than it is in America. I'm not saying that all French people smoke, because there is definitely a large portion which does not.
The striped shirt. Eh. Some people where stripes. Some people don't. The end.
The French are very fashionable. True. I have to say, people know how to dress here. You rarely see people slumming around in sweats and hoodies here, and the women especially are usually impeccably dressed.
The French are rude. False. They are no ruder than Americans. They may get frustrated at times when a clearly American person talks to them and expects them to speak English, but that is totally understandable. The French can be blunt at times and like to get to the point. If they need something, they say so. If you are doing something wrong, they do not hesitate to tell you. Стр. 272 упр. 2 a)
Every nationality is surrounded by different types of stereotypes. The Republic of Belarus is not an exception. The streets in Minsk (the capital of
Belarus) are extremely clean, people are very polite and tolerant, and potatoes are the main dish. Стр. 273 упр. 2b)
1. It wasn't very easy to write the stereotypes in previous exercises.
2. The statements didn't make me feel uncomfortable.
3. Im general, my responses were positive. Стр. 274 упр. 4a)
The author is unhappy because he faced with the new information about his country's stereotypes that are not true at all. So that's why he decided to write this article. Стр. 276 упр. 4b)
The Chinese are known as hardworking and progressive and that is true because of their high economy level.
It is dangerous to think so because it's wrong to generalize all people. Every person is unique and has his own personality so that doesn't mean that if people judge the whole nation to be lazy that this person is lazy too so this fact can be very offensive.