- Let's talk a little bit about cultural stereotyping.
(energetic music)
Hello, I'm Julian Northbrook from DoingEnglish.com,
here to help you master the English language faster,
with less stress, less hassle,
and fewer of those bloody headaches.
Happy Friday.
Yes, today is Friday.
TGIF, thank God it's Friday.
Why, no, not because tomorrow is the weekend,
but because today is the day we publish
a new extraordinary English speakers lesson.
This week's lesson is part five, and the final part in my
the full Irish lesson series,
a little side course that we've been doing
focused on Irish culture.
The main topic of this lesson is cultural stereotyping.
Extraordinary English speakers,
there is a direct link to the lesson
down in the description.
If you're not an EES member and you want to become one,
there is another link in the description, or head over to
DoingEnglish.com/ees.
Leprachauns, shamrocks, red hair, and every Irish a drunk.
Uh, I think not.
Cultural stereotyping can be tricky.
We make assumptions about other people
based on their cultures.
And yes, often there is a grain of truth
to these assumptions.
People from different cultures tend to fit into
general categories and stereotypes often,
not always,
but often are quite innocent and exist for a reason.
Little things,
like Italians eating nothing but pasta and pizza.
Asians all being good at mathematics,
and every Brit loving a good old cuppa tea.
And yes, there is a grain of truth to all of these.
If you go out for Italian in the UK, the chances are
you're gonna eat pasta, pizza, or a combination of the two.
A research article published in Asian Scientist Magazine
found that yes, indeed, generally speaking, Asian students
do score higher on mathematics tests
than their western counterparts.
Of course, this makes sense.
It's to do with the different ways
the education systems are set up.
Asian schools still place a lot of emphasis on
wrote learning when it comes to mathematics,
which western schools don't.
Well, on a test of who can do multiplications faster,
who do you think is gonna do better,
the guys who have played around with maths,
or the guys who have been trained to do
multiplications fast.
Of course, it's gonna be the Asian students.
and in the same way, England is famous for its tea,
and there are a lot of people who really do like
a good old cuppa tea.
But of course there is plenty of Italian cuisine
that is neither pasta nor pizza, and I know more than one
Asian who is pretty shit at mathematics.
Not to mention the fact that though I am British,
I absolutely hate tea.
These stereotypes, as innocent as they are,
make generalisations about people that can become
quite irritating for those on the receiving end.
And for you, speaking and using English
as an international language,
not making these assumptions about people can go a long way
towards making your conversation and communication
much smoother.
For example, if you have a Brit over to your house,
before plonking that cup of tea down in front of them,
check if indeed they do like tea.
I for one, would greatly appreciate it.
If I had a pound for every time that I have sat
sipping a cup of tea,
thinking oh my God this tastes like piss,
because I was too polite to say no to the tea prepared
and given to me without having first being checked
if I actually like tea,
then I would be a rich, rich man right now.
Be flexible, keep an open mind, and trust me,
your English conversation will be all the better for it.
That then is a nice place to stop this video,
and for me, Julian Northbrook, to sign off.
Extraordinary English Speakers members,
click on the link and check out this weeks lesson.
Non-members, if you would like to become one,
DoingEnglish.com/EES for information.
Thank you, and goodbye.