Wednesday's assignment

Trying to observe and understand culture is like trying to observe and understand an iceberg. Anyone who is either looking for a job or starting out a new job will require some time to figure out the expectations, culture, and customs of any or prospective workplace.

Task 1:

Look up the meanings of the vocabulary words below.

Aggressive ready or likely to attack or confront                       

equality  the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.         

rituals  ceremony , a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.

Annoyed   upset, slightly angry; irritated.                              

minimize    reduce (something, especially something unwanted or unpleasant) to the smallest possible amount or degree.
task  a piece of work to be done or undertaken.

Collaborative characterized or accomplished by collaboration

oblivious  not aware of or not concerned about what is happening around one.

valuable  worth a great deal of money.

Customs  habits or usages collectively; convention.

promptness done, performed, delivered, etc., at once or without delay: a prompt reply

values  worth, the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.

Embarrassment  a feeling of self-consciousness, shame, or awkwardness.

Task 2:

Use at least five of these vocabulary words to write an email to a friend describing to him/her the Canadian culture.

Hi Linda,

I'm very glad to hear that you will come to study in Canada next month. You will feel excited about everything at the beginning. But, after you stay here for a while, maybe you'll be annoyed. That's because there are some differences in university from China. We usually have collaborative tasks, and we work in groups. At first, it's an embarrassment for you to join your classmates, because your English is not as good as them, and you don't know so many Canadian customs. My suggestion for you is don't be shy, do more asking when you don't know how. I'm pretty sure that you can minimize the gap from others very fast.

Wish you all the best!

Cheers,

Lucy