CULTURE SHOCK

"Culture shock", this is familiar with new immigrants, especially for international students. What is culture shock, why do people have culture shock, and how to fix it. These questions were answered briefly and completely in the lecture. According to the lecture, the professor state that culture shock was caused by culture,language, environment, tradition and people's behavior. she also told us the defense mechanism, and there were 4 defense mechanism which is repression, regression, isolation, and rejection. Moreover, she provided the stages to help people to overcome culture shock. She admited the stages in short way : first, people will have culture shock when they first move to another culture, they will be sick afterward, and they have to find way to solve and fix it, then they will get better. It is similar with the case when people get physical sickness,for exmple, when people get cold, they will have medicine and get better after that. It is hard for people to get over the culture shock since they acquire their own culture. They need time to learn and accept the new culture. The professor suggest people to talk to other people, they should go to school or go out for making friend instead of staying at home. She also mention some advantage of living in new culture to encourage people such as people will have more chances to learn new culture, or they will acknowledge more clearly their own culture by learning new culture.


This lecture is an valuable and useful lecture. Not only does it explain the meaning and reason that causes culture shock, but it also provide the solution and methods to overcome culture shock. Therefore, it is attracted by many listeners. According to the lecture, the professor explain briefly the reason cause culture shock by using simple, popular and familiar examples that usually occured in international students' lives. She compaired the American value and Chinese value. She state that every culture value the same things, but they rank differently. That is true, for example, the American value is individualism is more important than family, but in Chinese culture it is inverse.But both of them are value the same thing, social values. She used the experiences to support her lecture. At the end, she mention that people have to be friendly and behave to accept the new culture, it will make them to live better in another culture. I agree with her opinion. I used to be in the same situation like that when I first came to Canada. I can not join the canadian conversation. Because they talk so fast and they always talk in same group. I try being alone and do my works by myself. Finally, I firgue out that is not going to be helpful, I can not finish the works by only myself. Living in communittee need to know each other. Thus, I try to learn the new culture, I realize that I ought to be friendly and tolerant if I want to study and have friends at here. Moreover, I learn how to duel with others.

Last week events

I did the idiom presentation on last friday. Though, it was the most easy assigment to do for last week. After that I learned the reading skills. And the most difficult one was the reading assigment. Althought I was taught the reading skills in class, I still have obstacles. On the weekend, I was supposed to find out an articles for my reading journal. Unfortunately, I could not because the topic of the article should relate to my final project. However, I found one and did the reading journal. But it was not really significant. On last friday, we watched a documentary movie which revealed the realistic issue occured in WALMART,then we wrote the listening journal on the blogger. For me, last week may be easy going because we did not have any test. And the following week is going to be busy because we will have the reading test and arguement essay. I hope I can do it as good as possible.

The realistic story of the employees in Wal Mart

Employee's health care and working condition is the crucial issue. This is a serious problem that the employers or the managers need to concentrate. Many companies do not provide the legal and lawful health care for their employee. In the documentary movie on Wal Mart, the audiences can easily realize the obctales that employees work for wal mart face with. According to the movie, the author went through the issue by interviewing the two different classes of workers in wal mart.At the beginning, the author state the speech of the Wal Mart's CEO. Then, the author interview the employees in the companies. The director want the audiences to recognize the contrast between the employees and employers. Although the writer did not show his/her opinion but the viewers can realize that he/she is on the employee's side. In the movie, it reflects more employee's argument and conflicts toward the managers , in the other words, is the owner. The employers did not provide a safety working condition and health care for their employees as they declare in the share holders convocation. They do not want to cost more for the empolee's wage, moreover they try to exchange the full-time employee by part-time employee. Since the employees that work for part-time will receive less benefit than the full-time one. As the result, the employee's confrontation increase. And the employees try to speak out for their rights. Overall, this movie completely reflets the real situation in which the employees are in. And the evidences that is used, also have strong support point. Because the author did the survey on the Wal Mart's employees, and he/she used the document that is offered by WalMart. For example, the convocation and the speech of the CEO. This movie is valuable and helpful for viewers to recognize the reality which occures in some big companies.
It is also a lesson for many employers to improve their obligation for their employee.

REFLECTION

My first impression about YUELI is: this is a fascinated place for me to practise English. Because I can find huge numbers of materials to read at here. And I can also practise my speaking and listening skills in the seminar. I have new friends that from various countries and great time at here. I believe that my english skills will be improved if I try to learn and work harder.
Over the next 6 weeks, I have made a plan for my self to improve my english. For example, I will spend the rest of my afternoon in Nexus to find materials and sources to read so that I can increase my reading skills. And sometimes I will go to sign up for the lecture in university, I want to practise my listening. These are two skills that I have to improve for preparing university study. However, I will not only just focus on the two skills above, for my writing skill, I will try to write essay on various topics. And I will use the vocabulary which I enrich in reading to make my essay become more interesting and attractive by enhancing well the grammar and words.

About myself

Helo, everyone!! welcome to my blog!!!
My name is Truong Hao Mi, and my english name is May Truong. I was born and grow up in Ho Chi Minh city which is the important industrial city in Vietnam. And I have started my oversea study in Canada since 2005. I almost spent more than 1 year in canada. I did study in Bronte college high school in Mississauga when I came here in 2005. After graduation, I moved to my uncle house in Markham. I am planing to go to York university this Fall. I am going to study financial accounting at Atkinson campus. That is my target in this year. But, the big trouble that obsess me now is my English skills. I realize that my English is not satisfied for the university's requirement. Thus, I take the yueli course to imoprove my english before I study in York.