Nationalities

While the ….. often come across as gruff cold and impersonal in public, in private, with the family and close friends, they are among the warmest, most cheerful, generous, emotional and overwhelmingly hospitable people on earth.

They adopt two different modes of behavior for their two lives - whereas in one they are reserved, hypocritical, careful, cagey, passive, in the other they are voluble, honest, direct, open, passionate.

The ….. are a mystical, religious, superstitious people at heart. Many intelligent people I knew swore that leap year is unlucky. The coming of anything as precious as a child invokes all kind of precautions. It is bad luck to pick a name in advance, bad luck to buy a present ahead of time, even worse to discuss the likely date.

The ….. love a party and use any holiday, and even the unexpected arrival of a stranger, as a pretext for feasting and drinking. Moderation and frugality do not come naturally to the ….. they live for the moment. So when an occasion for partying, and especially drinking, arises, they will throw away an entire bonus or a huge chunk of pay more than they can sеnsibly afford – on a single evening of mad jollity and emotional self-indulgence.

Most leisure асtivitiеs are rather informal and modest. The men, young and old, gather round park benches to рlаy chess or dominoes, usually with a good hit of betting. If they can choose, however, the majоrity of ….. turn back to nature for relaxation, taking a train out into the country. But their favourite outdoor hobby - one that аlwаys puzzles foreigners is mushroom picking. In autumn, it approaches a national craze. Connoisseurs treat the location of their favourite hunting grounds as top secret.

Activity 6. In the text above underline all the adjectives used to describe people’s characteristics in paragraphs 1 and 2. Decide whether each one is positive, negative or neutral.

Can you find any pairs of opposites among the words in your list? What are opposites of the rest of the adjectives? Compare ideas with a partner or use a good dictionary to help you.

Activity 7. Discuss these questions with a partner:

1. In what way are people similar to or different from nationality described in the text?

2. Do you think it is possible to describe someone of a different nationality accurately?

3. Do you know of any foreigner who has written about your country and its people? How accurate was this description?

Activity 8. Here is one more article about Russia. It is taken from website www.TrainingZone.co.uk where an expert in intercultural communication gives her advice on doing business in Russia, on how to avoid misunderstandings and mitigate conflict. Predict its content. Read the article and compare your ideas with those of the author.

Coming in from the cold: Top tips for doing business in Russia

Posted by TrainingZone in Strategy on Wed, 22/10/2008 - 22:12

Russia is not only the largest country in the world, but also has one of the most promising economies, giving it huge potential to get ahead of the current leading industrialised nations. Cathy Wellings, a culture and communication manager, provides advice on how to avoid a frosty reception when doing business in Russia.

The Russian Federation spans 10 time zones and has around 142 million people, making it the ninth largest population in the world. Greater political stability and the diversification of Russia’s economy, combined with increased foreign investment flows, higher domestic consumption and rising oil prices have contributed to the energy superpower’s continuous economic growth over recent years.

Russia’s work ethic is increasingly influenced by Western culture, but the Russians still have a unique set of values and attitudes and a different approach to communication, negotiation and decision making which could affect cross-cultural cooperation.

The following tips will help to ensure that you maximise your opportunities for doing business in Russia:

· Address colleagues using their 'patronymic' name, based on the first name of their father. Addressing new contacts with their given name is considered impolite.

· Since personal and informal contact is crucial when doing business in Russia, be ready to spend some time establishing a rapport before discussing business. Getting past the initial formality and reticence shown by your Russian colleagues might take time, but those who open meetings with talk of pricing have found to their cost that this approach results in failure.

· Russians are very patriotic. Avoid criticising any aspects of Russian history, culture or politics. Good neutral discussion topics are sports (especially winter sports) and family.

· In meetings, Russians prefer the direct approach. Therefore your presentations should be straightforward and comprehensible.

· Compromise is seen as a sign of weakness in business negotiations.

· Russians are very status conscious and prefer to have meetings with those of equal status. Decisions tend to be made by the most senior person.

· Don’t praise or reward anyone in public. This may be viewed with suspicion and can cause envy and jealousy.

· Never shake hands across a doorway or threshold, as Russians believe this will bring very bad luck.

Fashion conscious – тот, кто следит за новинками моды

Status conscious - тот, кто заботится о своем общественном положении, престиже

Activity 9. Project. Choose a country or region where you would like to work. Go online and find out how to behave in a business environment. Write a short report giving advice to people working there.

Unit 5

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