IE3 Seminar ICC: Lesson 5

5/12/2015

Hi everyone,

I hope you enjoyed the Golden Week vacation, and didn’t catch spring fever. We’ll have a few busy weeks ahead of us. Don’t forget that we’ll have our mid-term test on May 26 – just two more weeks!

High- and Low-Context Cultures
At the beginning of our lesson, we looked at how we can divide cultures into two different types: high-context and low-context. We had a variety of activities to understand the features of each type, and then classified a variety of cultures using this classification. You can find today's slide presentation in the IE3 ICC Lectures section.

Cambodian-Japanese Writing Program:
We also completed activities on how to describe cultural artifacts and cultural practices to people who are not familiar with your cultures. You can review the steps with the handouts from our lesson. They are also included at the end of today’s summary.

You also received your first letter from your Cambodian partner. We’ll have some time to discuss your letters in next week’s lesson. Before that, you’ll have to complete Letter #2 for your partner. Please review the guidelines if you have any questions.

If you were not in class today, you need to contact me to arrange a time to pick up your letter before the next class. You need the letter to answer your partner’s questions.

Homework:
1. Letter #2 for your Cambodian partner
2. Blog Comment #5
3. Reading, ch. 4, 81-103

Blog Question #5:

What are some similarities and differences between you and your partner? Are you surprised by any of these? Why?
Have any of your impressions about Cambodia and/or Cambodians changed? How did they change?

*Write 150-200 words.
*Use capitalization, punctuation & spelling correctly.
*Submit by Monday, May 18 by 6:00pm.

High- and Low-Context Role Plays
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File Type:	pdf

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Explaining Cultural Artifacts & Practices
File Size:	570 kb
File Type:	pdf

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Letter #2 Guidelines
File Size:	142 kb
File Type:	pdf

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9 Comments

IE3S-Yumi

5/16/2015 01:59:42 pm

One of some points I thought was similar between me and my partner is the attitude towards English. We both like English and we can enjoy learning English. I like watching English movies because I like the sounds and how native English users speaks the languages. I think it is very cool. As for her, she likes to listen to English music, and that`s also because she likes the sounds and like hearing somebody speaking English. I think for us, English is something that would make our lives very content.
The difference I was surprised about is she washes her clothes with hands and she doesn`t see it as housework or anything. I recognized it is usual for her to wash her own clothes. I have never wash my clothes with hands when I used to live with my family, so that`s way it was surprising for me.
My impression about Cambodian really changed. I sadly thought they were not enjoying their lives because of little money, job and food. But the fact was different. Even if there are still some inconveniences, they have a lot of food, they have some devices to listen music and they are pretty educated.

IE3S-Saya

5/17/2015 11:18:03 am

One similarity between me and my partner is how we spend our free time. My partner goes to the bookstore with her friend on the weekends. Before going to bed, she likes listening to music. I also meet my friends on the weekends because on the week days, it is sometimes difficult for us to meet up. I like listening to music, too. I listen to my favorite music while on the train and also when I’m home. One big difference I thought is about our families. My partner has eleven members in her family while I have only four. I wasn’t that surprised because I had an image of big families in Cambodia from before. From the first letter, I learned a lot about my partner and from it, impressions of Cambodians changed. I was surprised to know that my partner goes to public school in the morning, studies part-time classes in the afternoon, and then after studies at BEA at night. When she finishes studying, she also does chores. I didn’t imagine they have such a hard schedule.

IE3-Sayaka

5/17/2015 01:28:16 pm

Through this letter project, I felt that Cambodian teenagers and Japanese ones are very similar because me and my partner are very similar.
First of all, she has a smartphone and has Instagram, which I didn't expect at all. Second of all, she likes eating junk foods like McDonalds. Also, she knows American pop singer such as Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and her favorite singer is Taylor.
I wake up early at the morning like 4 am almost every day because I have part time job at morning, and I was surprised that my partner also wake up at 4 or 5 am, although the reason to wake up early was a little different. For her, the school sterts at 6:45, so she has to get ready from earlier hours than us. Instead of that, her school ends at 12:00 pm, but she has "part time class" after her actual classes. Also, the way to wash clothes is different. She washes her clothes by hand nevertheless I use the machine.
My impressions about Cambodians have a lot changed. I thought Cambodians cannot recieve enough education, but my partner has incredible English skill to write (I got 8 pages letter) and I think also to speak. Not only about educational reasons, but also her personal living style made me knew about actual Cambodian way of living. It's really similar to us!

IE3-Takahiro

5/17/2015 01:59:03 pm

A most remarkable similarity between me and my partner is that we both have dreams, which need English skills. And we both have to study English much harder to fulfill our dreams.
The differences are that he cannot eat pork or chicken skin. He said eating them was creepy. And he like sleeping so much that he takes a nap whenever he has time. On the contrary, I have insomnia and then I never get enough sleep.
Before exchanging letters with my partner, while I knew almost nothing except negative images, prejudice like poverty, now they were all cleaned out and I have a great interest in Cambodia.The more I get to know, the more positive my impressions has changed.
Of course, threre are many differences but in reality I felt all the differences we have are just what color our skins are and where we were born.

IE3S-Kohei

5/17/2015 02:39:19 pm

One similarity between I and my partner, Samnang is that we both are university students and our major is English literature. In addition to that, we both want to get a job which requires English ability. He said he wants to be a English tour guide. In contrast, he had no experience on the train. I was a little bit surprised because I use train to go to university everyday. Now I am wondering how he goes to school everyday.
In his letter, he said one of his hobby is watching football match of Manchester United. It surprised me because Cambodian students are not so different from us. Many Japanese students also like watching football games. In the 1st letter, I asked him why he study English. He said that many people around the world come to his province as a tourist so that he need to study English to communicate with them. I thought this situation is really similar to Japan.
After reading his response, my impression towards Cambodia has changed. And also this letter made me want to meet him actually.

IE3S-Jumpei

5/17/2015 02:57:44 pm

1. One similarity is that we have similar hobbies like basketball, football, cycling and so on. I'm not actually surprised of this because Nicole already gave us some information before we started exchanging letters and learned that they're pretty similar to us.
Another similarity is that we're both interested in each others country. There isn't much surprise for this.
In terms of differences, I was surprised that school starts so early. While the first period back in my high school starts at 8:20 AM, my partners first period starts at 7. In addition to this, my partner says he even wakes up 1 or 2 hours earlier when he have club activities. It's very astonishing that club activities are practiced in the early morning rather than after school. This is my personal prediction but I guess this is because after school might be so busy, in general in Camobia.

2. My impression against Cambodians hasn't changed but was more like a reconfirm for me. Not considering if this is true or false, I judged from the letter that Cambodians are very punctual and diligent. I guess this image still could refer as my stereotype against Cambodians but this is what I thought reading the letter.

IES-Yuma

5/17/2015 03:14:38 pm

First of all,the similarity between us is about our time at home.She does housework to help her families. I also did it when I was a high school student.On the other hand,the difference is about our time at school. She studies at school till night though she is a high school student.She said that she does not hang out with her friends because they have a lot of things to do in a day.There were many surprising things in her letter but it was most surprising one for me because it is not so common for Japanese high school students.They study harder than us.
I think every children cannot go to school because of poverty, however,it is not true.they can study which they are interested in. It is same to us.

IE3S-Manami

5/17/2015 05:12:08 pm

There are ome similarities between me and my partner. I found that we both like music. Also she goes to university and I go to university too.
There are also some differences between me and her. She lives with her family and spends most of her time at home. On the other hand I live by myself and I hardly spend my time at home. Also there was a difference about the way we go to school. I take a train to go to uni but she drives her bike. She told me that the roads aren't in good condition so accidents happen a lot there and many people's lives are lost. I was so sorry to hear that.
She told me that I have everything and she has nothing. What she has told me made me to think about my life more and I star to think I should know that I'm lucky and appreciate what I have now.

IE3S-Misato

5/17/2015 06:57:27 pm

One similarity between my partner and I is about our family structure. We both have five members in family, father, mother, and three children. The age difference between our siblings are also similar. Also, we both like music. My partner told me one of her favorite song and I liked the song when I listened to it. I guess we have a similar taste in music.
One of the differences is about what we do with siblings during free time. I like to go shopping or amusement park with my sister. My partner said he like to play games such as hide and seek with his brother and cousins.
My impression towards Cambodia has changed. I had some negative images because I thought students cannot get enough education and they are not happy. However he studies a lot in his school. Through his writing, I felt he enjoys studying and life. I would like know more about Cambodia and Cambodians.

IE3 Seminar ICC: Lesson 5

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