Starting Up:                                             Our Cultural Heritage

1)    What is Culture?

Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture has been called “the way of life for an entire society.” As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, games, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief as well as the art.

2)     List of vocabulary items related to culture :

Belief :

1. The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: ex:” My belief in you is as strong as ever.”
2. Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: ex: ” His explanation of what happened defies belief.”
3. Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons.

Ethics : A system of accepted beliefs which control behaviour, especially such a system based on morals

Values :Beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment (either for or against something). Ex: “He has very conservatives values”

Cultural conflicts : We should try hard to avoid cultural conflicts as they are a result of a misunderstanding

Cultural stereotypes :A fixed idea that people have about what someone or something is like, especially an idea that is wrong.

Cultural diversity : The fact or quality of cultures of being diverse or different Cultural diversity should be considered as a source of enrichment rather a source of conflicts.

Cultural shock : A condition of confusion and anxiety affecting a person suddenly exposed to an alien culture or milieu. ex: “The first time she went to Japan, Isabel got a huge culture shock”

Local culture : Local culture refers to the culture developed at the local level

Global culture : Global culture refers to the culture developed at the global level through the new information technologies.