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A. Come as you are VALUES AND NORMS
THEME 10

Reading & Writing

1 a. & Read the statements about cultural norms of different countries and guess if they
are true (T) or false (F).
1. In Egypt you shouldn’t add salt to your meal when you are invited to dinner.
2. Norwegian people use a knife and fork even when eating sandwiches.
3. In England your host never lets you pay for your meal.
4. Playing with chopsticks is considered rude in Japan. So be careful with them.
5. In Mexico being overweight gives the message that you are healthy.
6. Be gentle and avoid strong handshakes in the Philippines.

b. Work in pairs. Discuss the possible reasons for social norms above.

e.g.
Student A: I think you shouldn’t add salt to your meal when you’re invited to dinner because your
host may think you don’t like the food.
Student B: I agree with you. / I don’t think so. They shouldn’t add salt because……..

2 Guess the meaning of the proverb “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”.

CULTURE MATTERS

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. As this proverb
emphasizes, if you don’t want to experience culture shock
when you go to another country, you should learn its social
norms and values. Here are three people telling us what they
have experienced in a foreign country.

Anna, Australia
As an Australian, what I was surprised about Turkey was the
huge breakfast table. It includes various types of cheese,
olives, eggs, sausages, pastry and of course vegetables like
cucumber and tomatoes. It is more common to be invited to
breakfast rather than dinner at weekends. Turkish people
can spend hours around the table; eating, drinking so many
glasses of Turkish tea, chatting and enjoying themselves.
Another point was about consuming bread. Yes, they eat a lot
of bread at every meal. What’s more, in my country we don’t
start eating bread until the food arrives, but you are served
delicious hot bread and butter before the main dish in many
Turkish restaurants. Sharing food even with strangers is also
a common characteristic in this country. They don’t only want
to share their food but also insist on this. When it is time to
pay the bill, another struggle starts. Each person on the table
wants to pay it, which is quite unusual for us. I must confess
that being in this country was a marvelous experience for me
and really raised my cultural awareness.

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