Language & culture

Go to page 31 ex. 2. Listen to these people's answer (listening audio files are on Moodle) and give your opinion on their point of view. Make also reference to your classmates' opinion.

To begin with, I find remarkable what Speaker 1 tells us about what he read as the definition of culture. Said definition plainly states that "culture" is what we learn from others. I have to disagree with that, culture is nostalgia, It's the old things that we inherit from others, but culture can also change, mostly for the better, since the past also holds bad events that we inherit, like the fact that speaker one doesn't celebrate 12th of July anymore, since he's a pacifist. This shows perfectly how one's own life experiences and morals can change their culture, and how culture may change for the better.

I can agree mostly with speaker 2, It's difficult to define what culture is because everybody seems to find a different meaning to it. But I have to disagree with the fact that culture can be global since the effects of globalization and cultural appropriation clearly show how it ends up damaging It.

I believe that I agree the most with Speaker 3's opinion, especially on the fact that culture is prevalent through art and media since the first traces of "culture" were preserved thanks to things that are classified as art, like wall paintings or handcrafts. However, I have to say that we westerners share a similar value of eating and spending time together, so i'll have to disagree with Speaker 3 in that last statement.

Although I could agree with what Speaker 1 says about culture is mostly absorbed and taught by our ancestors, I do not beleive it is only that. As Carla said in her post, culture is something that has the ability to change and we can adapt it to our thoughts, moral and ethics. For this reason, in my opinion, everyone has their own definition of culture.

Speaking of Speaker 2, I could not agree more with som part of his opinion. As he states, culture is something that unites a group of people and makes them different from the rest. The only remark with which I differ is when he comments on the universality of cultures and the possibility of a globalised culture.

To conclude, I share Carla's opinion about Speaker 3. Even so, I do believe that even if much of the past is shared or we are classified as equals ("western world"), this does not deprive us of experiencing things differently and, therefore, of constructing a kind of "new culture" that makes us not understand certain attitudes in other countries (or even in the same country) that should be the same as we expect because we are categorised the same way.

Pol Berzal

The first of the speakers refers to the most traditional part of the culture. He talks about the folklore itself and how different customs survived from generation to generation. In my opinion, he makes a fascinating statement in the end, when saying that he is a pacifist and does not agree with some of the celebrations in Northern Ireland; in this case he highlights that traditions should be periodically revised, just to remember what is the real motive of that celebration.

The point of the second speaker is also another vision of the definition of the word culture. She says that culture is a way of distinguishing different people. Listening to her, this example came to my mind: if we take a look at the urban tribes, they look for the differentiation of the others by means of dressing or behaving differently.

In the third speech, the man makes a point of centering his argumentation in the family traditions and also the arts. I would say that in this part, cultural differences could be included; for example, the differences between non-verbal language in each part of the world.

To summarize, I do agree with all of them. In my opinion, each speaker develops a different part of the formal definition of culture, which could have infinite entries in the dictionary.

(Núria Fenoll)

I think all three speakers are right about certain aspects. The first one says he does not celebrate a war victory because he is a pacifist, which brings an interesting question nowadays: when should a community leave a certain tradition? A clear example is bullfighting: although many people consider it one of the most important cultural manifestations in their country, other countries used to have similar rituals with animals that were eventually abandoned. The third speaker talks about "global culture". I think nowadays people have added elements of other cultures (Halloween, K-Pop, TV series from around the world, etc.) to their everyday life and, in some aspects, culture is becoming "customisable", more personal or for limited groups, rather than regional or for large communities.

i think the three speakers have its own wiew about the culture. The first one respect the tradition but not participate because he is a pacifist. The interesting point should be to what extent traditions should be maintained and who decides it and its motives. The second speaker has a different opinion and see the culture as a symbol of diference between people focused in defined groups of similar thoughts and add a globalization point that i completely disagree. i do think that in the variety is the richness. When you travel to another continent as Asia you can appreciate easily.
The thiird speaker concibes the culture as traditions and different arts .
To conclude, I should say that nowadays coexists and all of them must be respected even if we individually think that some of them make no sense On the other hand with the effects of globalization, there is a tendency towards a mixture of diiferent culture which I believe is not profitable in some cases.

As Núria has said, I believe that each speaker draws our attention to different aspects of the concept of culture. Due to the fact that it is an abstract concept, it is not strange the existence of diferent interpretations.

The first that comes to my mind when I think about culture is similar to what Speaker 1 said. I think that one of the core aspects of culture is how it is taught and learned. Having said that, I would like to add that culture is not an unmodifiable thing that structure people's life, so obviously each person has some influence. The possibility of change mentioned by "cventura" is what allows people to adapt to new contexts and also to develop.

When it comes to Speaker 2, I mostly agree with her point of view. It comes without saying that cultural identity will be different depending on the country, so cultural can be understood as a differential thing. It is something that unifies people to others that are similar to them, so at the same time, it could be a barrier to the ones that are diferent.

Finally, related to speaker 3, I also believe that culture is showed in the media, arts, tradicions and habits, as well as the way people behave. From where I stand, is interesting what Pol has added, related to how "new" cultures could make difficult to understand people from other countries.

Aina Carenys

I agree with what my colleagues have said previously. The three speakers are right. Each one of them defines culture according to his or her point of view. The first speaker states that culture is something learnt from generation to generation, from parents to sons and daughters, and it is completely rooted in our childhood. I completely agree with him.
The second speaker sees culture as something that binds a group of people together and that it makes them to be and feel differently from other communities or ethnic groups.
And the last one puts more his accent on people's behaviour according to their specific culture. This behaviour can be shown mainly in their traditions and group celebrations.
So, for me, the three of them are right according to each one's point of view about culture.

I agree with Speaker 1. He states that culture is anything we learn from other people because, for me, culture is a gift that our ancestors passed on to us and, in my humble opinion, it is a vivid representation of the knowledge that certain members of any community have obtained throughout the years. Indeed, it's during our childhood that we are able to absorb this knowledge unconsciously till the age of twelve, if I'm not mistaken. After that, our horizons start to broaden, and we start thinking critically, and that's what Speaker 1 proves while saying that he is a pacifist and does not participate in the Twelfth of July celebrations.
Speaker 2 doesn't seem to be sure about the concept of the culture, and I think it stays for her rather vague and indefinite. On the one hand, she says culture unites and cements a group of people or a community, but, at the same time, it separates this group or the community from others. So, in this case, culture creates an ambiguous effect on society in general. On the other hand, she dares to imagine the possibility of the existence of a global culture but finally concludes that culture must be something that separates people. I believe that culture is precious, and many times we don't recognize its value by saying that it sets people apart and forgetting that that's what makes us special and unique. Hence, the idea of a global culture seems to me unbelievable and unjustified.
As to Speaker 3, of course, culture in its broad meaning can be many things, and in most cases, we associate it with arts, media, television, and theatre. At the same time, culture is also the way people behave by following the traditions and customs of the country they were brought up. Meanwhile, I reckon that it's the way people live that determines the way people behave and not vice versa. Finally, I would disagree with previous statements of some students who say western society is as family-oriented as the societies of other cultures, because here in Europe, for example, people are more and more autonomous and independent, therefore the family bonds are not that strong as they were several years ago.

In my opinion, the three speakers have an interesting point of view about culture.

Speaker 1, seems to admire the way traditions survive on time. He; however, decided not to take part in the 20 July celebration of his country for ethical beliefs. This personal decision highlighted as NÚRIAFENOLL_17FF11DC pointed out, that some cultural traditions must be analyzed in order to decide if we want them to be part of our lives or not. After all, we cannot deny that culture is constantly changing and some acts that could have a symbology or sense in certain periods of our history could not have it in the present. A good illustration of this is the one DAVIDEGEA_17FF09DC mentioned about animal rituals which were practiced by natives in some celebrations or rituals and have lost their sense in our today society.

Speaker 2, has also an interesting vision of culture which she defines as something that unifies a group of people but at the same time identifies them from others. However, she seems to agree about the creation of a universal culture, which in my opinion is an idealistic and limited point of view, because a great part of human richness is all the differences that we can learn about other cultures. A Universal Culture would be, accepted that there is only one good way to think or act.

Finally, for Speaker 3 culture is all the behaviours that have an influence on the way a group of people live. He takes as an example, the personal habits of families during dinner time. This example is interesting because he points out that culture is also the habits done by a small group of people.

In conclusion, Culture is a very large concept that doesn't have an only definition and is not a static thing.

After listening to these different opinions about culture, I think the three speakers do have a point, as many of my colleagues have agreed already.

First of all, the northern Irish speaker states that culture is something we learn from others. And considering that we don't grow up isolated one from each other, but in society, it is understandable that somebody's culture is rooted in his social context. I would like to add though, that culture is not only something we have been taught but something we also contribute to create, as it is an endless concept, always changing and under construction.

When it comes to the second speaker, I find very interesting the question with which she ends her speech. Is culture something that gathers people together thanks to their similarities, or does culture confront them all in opposition due to their differences, trying to divide society into different groups that cannot come together by any meanings? I believe that when it comes to discussing this issues, we should first review the negative or positive connotation that is linked to the concepts of similarity and difference. I find interesting too the dilemma that my colleague Angie45 pointed out when talking about a global culture understood as an only one right way of acting or thinking.

As to finish, the last speaker emphasizes over the ideas of art, media, literature...the importance of people's behaviour and how it influences the values and traditions. Here I share my colleague Ainaze's opinion and instead of choosing one over another, I would rather say that any artistic form is an expression of a particular everyday life and way of relating to each other, being one a consequence of the other.

Laura Sánchez

Núria Jar (17FF09DC)

This is such an interesting topic of discussion! As many people mentioned, culture is an abstract concept and this has to do with many different descriptions. Most of them are linked to customs and traditions, but the way I see it is broader than that. Someone wrote that “one of the core aspects of culture is how it is taught and learned”, and I couldn’t agree more with that, because culture is indicative of what makes us human beings. We are inseparable from culture, because we are social animals. So, all that is not defined by nature convey to culture.

In my opinion, "culture" is a large concept, as is reflected in the three opinions. Culture implies not only arts, literature, and specific knowledge, but also traditions, habits, and attitudes we have learned since we were children, as the first speaker says. But we, as adults, can decide (of course) if we accept or not some traditions. At this first point, one part of this idea is also determined by our context.

I find interesting what Laura says about the second speaker related to globalization, because I think we are losing some traditions or the "essence" of cities, for example. On the other hand, don't you think probably some traditions and ways of doing are good to change?

I also want to highlight the point of view of the third speaker, when he speaks about culture as our ways of doing. I agree with him and I think these differences in communities created by context, weather or other influences are remarkable when we speak about culture and create the cultural identity of different societies.

To finish, I would like to add the fortune of belonging to a community where to learn different ways of doing and traditions; of having access to spreading our minds and living experiences, which develops our cultural sense.

Culture is a complex word which can be widely defined, so it is worth bearing in mind the opinions of the three speakers. It is definitely true when speaker number 1 says that you learn from other people and that depending on where you grow up, your culture is one or another. It does not matter if you believe in that or not. As a child, one can celebrate festivities that maybe, as an adult,  you realise that are wrong to celebrate. Regarding Speaker number 2, she begins with the difficulty of defining the concept of culture. Nothing further than the truth, and she completes the sentence by explaining that culture is something universal and something that separates. A point of view that I completely agree with. In fact, most of the conflicts around the world are caused by the imposition of one point of view against another, one culture against another. Don't you think so? And of course, I would also like to point out the opinion of speaker number 3, the one that talks about arts, literature, media and family tradition, perhaps the one that says what I first thought about what culture is.