Ahmed Alsalman

This class was very useful; it offers a good opportunity for us to talk with American people. We spend most the time in this class by talking about different topics. So I have learned many things, especially about American society, the relationships between the family and the relatives and how the young boys become independent after the age 18 and he can live alone , also about the relationship between the boys and the girls especially in the school. We talked about the education in the United States, and the student should pay for their school or sometimes they can get student’s loans. Also we talked the hobbies and the sport games, and I learned that Football game and Basketball are so popular among Americans people and that completely different comparing to my country.

AHMED ALSALMAN

Nour

This class was a great opportunity for me to know more not only about Americans, but also about other cultures. Such as, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese. First thing that I have learned is that there are not big differences between people around the world. When I compare between my culture and what people believe in my country and what my classmates mentioned, I find people are almost similar. For example, we have discussed the possibility for getting married to someone who has different culture and religion, and I discovered every one of my classmates has his won opinion which does not based on his culture but based on what he believes
I was surprising when I had known that American students do not study for many hours per the day which means they are so smart. I have learned does not matter what you believe the matter is who you are. I think this seems a little different from Arabic culture; the religion is very important for Arabic.

Mesfer Alwadai

I get many benefits from speech class that discuss the American culture such as the US holidays, laws, communication styles, families, and education style.
The US has many religious and culture holidays such as Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas. For example, Christmas is a religious holiday. It is a holiday observed mostly on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus. Christens celebrate during this holidays and give their children gifts. Another most important holiday is the Independence Day, commonly known as of the fourth July, is the national day of the United States. It is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. It is commonly associated with fireworks, picnics, concerts, family reunions, political speeches. Another holiday is Labor Day which is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September. Also, the first Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1878, in Boston, by the Central Labor Union of New York. Another one is, Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31. The common Halloween activities include treating, wearing costumes , visiting haunted houses, and watching horror movies. Another holiday is Thanksgiving Day which is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States . Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. People always meet their families and eat the Turkey, which is the famous meal in this holiday.
The most interesting thing about the US laws is that each state has different laws because states are considered like countries. Also, nationals pay different taxes and how much they pay which depend on the state loans from the governments. Moreover, each one has special staff that controls it such as mayor.
Another topic is the American communication styles. They are very different from other cultures. For example, in the American communication styles, people must keep specific distance and a man can shake hands with a woman. Also, they always focus on the main ideas and some important details that help them to understand the others. Also, they depend on facts and support them by much evidence.
Another topic is the types of families. The US, as other more develop countries, has many types of family such as nuclear family, single parent family, extended family, and childless family. The nuclear consists of a mother and father. It is the most common in the US because it can be a nurturing environment to raise children if there is love, devoted time to children, emotional support, low stress, and stable economic environment. In nuclear families, both parents are the biological or adoptive parents of their children. Moreover, there are three types of married nuclear families depending on employment status of the woman and man, for example, the husband works outside home while his wife works inside the home caring for the children. Also, in the second type of married nuclear family, wife works outside home and her husband cares for the children. Moreover, the third kind of married nuclear family, both wife and husband work outside the home or are income providers. In some situations, the woman might have a home-based business, such as a day care center. However, in Saudi Arabia, extended family is the most common .It may include parents, children, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Also, I told my American partners who tend to be extended families and they think it is very useful for many reasons. It helps raise children, supports for an ill relative, or helps with financial problems. Sometimes children are cared by their grandparents when their biological parents died or no longer can take care of them. Many grandparents take some primary responsibility for child care, particularly when both parents work.
Another topic is the difference between the US and Saudi Arabia in the education system. The education system in the US is more different from that in Saudi education system for many reasons. The education system in US cares for many things such as students, teachers, environment, technology, knowledge, and experience. Also, parents, students, community members, governments always evaluate it. Moreover, it focuses on the information that related to the student lives. In addition, the most important thing is that every school is provided with many recreation facilities such as gams, playgrounds, and trips. However, the Saudi education system depends on the knowledge as the primary way to evaluate students without any relation to their lives. In conclusion, the Culture Media provides me good information about American culture.

Culture Midia

Baker Alotaibi

Last week, I asked my group many questions that I really do not know the answers. The American students helped me to answer these questions. I n addition, they gave my many examples to support their idea about my questions.In fact, they are easier to talk to, I also consider them open minded people. on the other hand, I would say that they are just like my friends back home. I really want to know more about American culture, and make new American friends.

Culture through Media - Ahmed Fadhil (EAP2 B)

We talked about different topics this week. There are 8 members in our group. The meeting with Americans students was very interesting this week. We first talked about foods. The American students said that most of the foods seen in movies are not the favorite foods for people living in the U.S. No one likes the fast food except the Pizza that most students prefer to eat while studying. We spent most of the time talking about American and other countries relationshipes and families. The most important thing that must be changed in U.S. is the amount of taxes taken from workers. Also it will be best idea if the education became free.

Ahmed Altaleb. EAP2b

My group consists of seven respectable, intelligent, educated, and funny members. We usually spend the hour with Derreck and Elizabeth in the classroom. Due to the huge differences in cultures, we find social issues grabs and education grabs our attention. Two social differences we enjoyed talking about were the most shocking to me. One is that Americans do not get married to any of their relatives. Group members showed surprise expression when they know that and so did I. Relatives in the US are like friends and no more. We are not like that in Saudi Arabia and that what makes us surprised. The other thing is that living with your parents after the age of eighteenth is considered to be shameful. I noticed that actually before coming to USA through the movies, but I wanted to see if it is confined to some people or not.

Culture Media EAP2 Mars

In this week, there are 7 people in our group. We talked about American family, Chinese food, and Arabic’s marriage interview in the classroom. In my opinion, I think these three topics would be interesting to others. First, Samantha told us something about American family. For example, most children don’t like to live with their parents after they grow up. Also the female and male are equal, which means they have same right in every area. However, it is different in China. As my family, my grandfather doesn’t need to anything in the house. His duty is only “eat,” drink, and watch the News. My father is the same. Besides. I told my group members a situation: Nowadays, some young Chinese girl watch too much Korean love move, we called “soap movie.” All of these movies talk about how a poor girl meets a rich guy. Poor girl does not need to do anything, because she will “buy” many servants for her.
In addition, we discuss about Arabic’s marriage interview. As Ahmed said: when two families have marriage interview, the man do not have right to decide marriage, but his mother or sister has. If they are married, it will have three wedding parties: to invite woman or man’s family, and to invite their important friends and a few family members.
Finally, I know some of our group members really like Chinese food, so I simply introduce some famous food to them. For example, Chicken is one of popular food in China. Every festival, most of us will cook the chicken in different tastes: soy sauce, salted, roasted, stewing, and fry. All of these are basic. If you go to the restaurant, you may have more tastes. Canton not only is an economic city, but also is a “food” city. The real Chinese food is much better than here. If people visit China for eat, I suggest they go to Canton, southern of China. It will surprise you.