Discussion Althen
This week our group of ESL students was working on the excerpt from the Gary Althen's book "American Ways: A Guide for Foreigners in the United States", There were just several paragraphs, but they show us prominent values, beliefs, and cultural patterns of Americans. We learned that the most important thing to understand about Americans is probably their devotion to individualism. They are tough since childhood to consider themselves as separate' individuals. At the same time they have been trained since kindergarten to find person or a group for games, later in college for studies. "Now, I want you to work in group and to
- that's typical phrase at class. Nevertheless in the chart "What's important to Americans" statement "Freedom of choice to do what one want" stands on the fifth position. Funny, a? Another interesting thing. According to Althen "Many Americans do not display the degree of respect for their parents... . Although, the statement "Having a good family life" is standing at the first place of the chart that I mentioned above. To my mind, we must look a little bit forward and not to forget that all the
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Some common words found in the essay are:
It's Americans, Latin America, Jerry Salty, Foreigners United, Yes Americans, Thanksgiving Day, Althen Americans, Journal Assignment, Declaration Independence, What's Americans, freedom choice, wife husband, partly true, americans money,
Approximate Word count = 906
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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