12-1-english-美国社会主流价值观.pptVIP

It is easier to understand what Americans are thinking and feeling if we can understand what these basic traditional American values are and how they have influenced almost every facets of life in the United States. My opinion: Firstly, why should we study American culture? People in China now would like to talk about last thirty years’ reform and opening to outside world when China has had great changes. The biggest change, I believe, is the culture. China‘s traditional culture which has lasted several thousand years has met challenge. The society is full of uncertainty, a lot of people just feel at a loss. For thousands of years China focus on imperial power(皇权), people got used to listening to the words of kings and their superiors’, but now ordinary Chinese people have to learn to be their own decision maker. People realize that China should be modernized, just like west, but they do not know how. Cultural conflict sometimes is hard. In this case, draw lessons from western country especially America is wise, “The stone of other hill can polish the jade of ours”(他山之石 可以攻玉), just as one of the old saying goes. Secondly, we can not avoid one fact when we learn foreign languages -- we are learning different culture which is much more important than the language itself. What do we really learn when we study about other cultures? First and foremost, we learn about our own. Until we are confronted by a different way of doing things, we assume that everyone does things the same way that we do, and thus our own culture – our values, attitudes, behavior -- is largely hidden from our view. * * Traditional Mainstream Values of USA -- the spirit of American people -- Larry Liu I grow up in such a social environment: U.S. imperialism is our number one enemy. From my childhood, America is mysterious to me. In the proce