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Summary
Summary
Traveling to America soon? If the thought of extended exposure among Americans seems daunting, let American Ways: A Guide for Foreigners in the United States help you prepare. In this revised edition, Gary Althen has added material to provide the clearest insights yet into the American psyche and culture, including the rewritten chapter Ways of Reasoning, which provides one of the best-organized and clearest presentations of American thought processes to date, and a new chapter on race and ethnic relations that compares how foreign visitors and Americans alike perceive American subcultures. Within most chapters Althen has included a new section, Suggestions for Foreign Visitors, adding another practical dimension to the book. American Ways covers all the basic needs of the foreign student or businessperson, covering the trends and customs of day-to-day activities like driving, shopping and verbal and nonverbal communication as well as the more esoteric customs regarding cultural values, politics, education, religion and male-female relationships. As a comprehensive introduction to American culture, American Ways will prepare you for living, studying and working in America. It's that little tiny stuff that can affect how people get along.... T]here are lots and lots of different cues] on an underlying, unspoken level.-Gary Althen Althen gives advice to foreign visitors to the U.S. that is intended to help them understand the motivations, attitudes, communication styles, and actions of Americans. Emphasizing the interpretation of observed behavior, he covers ways of reasoning and American ideas about politics, family life, education, religion, the media, social relationships, racial and ethnic diversity, male-female relationships, sports and recreation, driving, shopping, personal hygiene, and organizational and public behavior. Over-generalization is an understandable danger in such a work as this, but Althen does make an effort to emphasize that there are variations among Americans, while he concentrates on the similarities.-Book News ContentsPreface to the Second EditionAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter I: General Ideas About American Culture1 American Values and Assumptions 2 The Communicative Style of Americans3 Ways of Reasoning4 Differences in CustomsChapter II: Specific Aspects of American Life5 Politics6 Family Life7 Education8 Religion9 The Media10 Social Relationships11 Racial and Ethnic Diversity12 Male-Female Relationships13 Sports and Recreation14 Driving15 Shopping16 Personal Hygiene17 Getting Things Done18 Behavior in Public Places19 Studying20 BusinessChapter III: Coping With Cultural Differences21 Some Helpful Ideas22 Activities for Learning About American CultureConclusionBibliographyAbout the Author
Author Notes
Gary Althen served for thirty years as a foreign student adviser at the University of lowa, many of them as director of the Office of International Students and Scholars. He has been president of NAFSA: Association of International Educators and received its Marita Houlihan Award for his contributions to the field of international educational exchange.
Table of Contents
Preface to the Second Edition | p. xi |
Acknowledgments | p. xvii |
Introduction | p. xix |
On Understanding | p. xx |
How Much Generalizing Is Acceptable? | p. xxii |
On Asking "Why?" | p. xxvi |
How Americans See Themselves | p. xxvii |
How Americans See Foreigners | p. xxix |
On Describing Americans | p. xxxi |
Part I General Ideas about American Culture | p. 1 |
Chapter 1 American Values and Assumptions | p. 3 |
Individualism, Freedom, Competitiveness, and Privacy | p. 5 |
Equality | p. 14 |
Informality | p. 16 |
The Future, Change, and Progress | p. 18 |
Goodness of Humanity | p. 19 |
Time | p. 22 |
Achievement, Action, Work, and Materialism | p. 24 |
Directness and Assertiveness | p. 27 |
Chapter 2 The Communicative Style of Americans | p. 33 |
Preferred Discussion Topics | p. 34 |
Favorite Forms of Interaction | p. 37 |
Depth of Involvement Sought | p. 40 |
Channels Preferred | p. 42 |
Level of Meaning Emphasized | p. 53 |
Chapter 3 Ways of Reasoning | p. 55 |
The Context | p. 56 |
The Point | p. 58 |
The Organization | p. 60 |
The Evidence | p. 61 |
The Cause | p. 65 |
Chapter 4 Differences in Customs | p. 67 |
Part II Specific Aspects of American Life | p. 75 |
Chapter 5 Politics | p. 77 |
The Rule of Law | p. 80 |
The Ideal of Compromise | p. 81 |
Politics Apart | p. 82 |
Chapter 6 Family Life | p. 85 |
What Foreigners Notice | p. 86 |
The Changing Family | p. 88 |
Raising Children | p. 90 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 98 |
Chapter 7 Education | p. 101 |
Guiding Ideals | p. 102 |
Social Forces Affecting American Education | p. 110 |
Issues Facing American Schools | p. 113 |
Advantages and Disadvantages | p. 115 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 117 |
Chapter 8 Religion | p. 119 |
The General Context | p. 120 |
Religion and Individual Americans | p. 124 |
Exceptions | p. 125 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 127 |
Chapter 9 The Media | p. 129 |
What Is American about the American Media? | p. 130 |
Americans' Views of Their Media | p. 133 |
Misconceptions the Media Promote | p. 136 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 139 |
Chapter 10 Social Relationships | p. 141 |
Meeting New People | p. 143 |
The American Concept of Friendship | p. 145 |
Relationships Prescribed by Roles | p. 148 |
Courtesy, Schedules, Gifts | p. 150 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 153 |
Chapter 11 Racial and Ethnic Diversity | p. 155 |
What Foreign Visitors See | p. 156 |
How Americans View Race and Ethnic Relations | p. 162 |
Austin, Texas: A Case Study | p. 167 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 169 |
Chapter 12 Male-Female Relationships | p. 173 |
Influences on Male-Female Relationships | p. 174 |
Male-Female Relationships in Various Settings | p. 179 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 186 |
Chapter 13 Sports and Recreation | p. 187 |
Sports | p. 188 |
Recreation | p. 191 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 193 |
Chapter 14 Driving | p. 195 |
General Information | p. 196 |
Traffic Laws | p. 197 |
Attitudes about Driving | p. 198 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 201 |
Chapter 15 Shopping | p. 203 |
Advertising | p. 204 |
Pricing | p. 206 |
Customer-Clerk Relationships | p. 206 |
Sales Tactics | p. 208 |
Procedures for Returning and Exchanging | p. 209 |
Private Sales | p. 210 |
Precautions for Shoppers from Abroad | p. 210 |
Chapter 16 Personal Hygiene | p. 213 |
The Basics | p. 214 |
Variations | p. 217 |
Other Issues Concerning Hygiene | p. 218 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 219 |
Chapter 17 Getting Things Done in Organizations | p. 221 |
Misconceptions | p. 222 |
Characteristics of U.S. Organizations | p. 224 |
Suggestions for Dealing with U.S. Organizations | p. 226 |
Chapter 18 Behavior in Public Places | p. 229 |
Rules for Behavior in Public Places | p. 229 |
Communication Behaviors | p. 232 |
Suggestions for Foreign Visitors | p. 234 |
Chapter 19 Studying | p. 235 |
Assumptions Underlying the Higher Education System | p. 236 |
Student-Student Relationships | p. 237 |
Student-Professor Relationships | p. 239 |
Roommate Relationships | p. 241 |
Plagiarism | p. 244 |
Suggestions for Foreign Students | p. 245 |
Chapter 20 Business | p. 247 |
Doing Business in the United States | p. 250 |
The Global Economy | p. 256 |
Suggestions for Foreign Businesspeople and Future Businesspeople | p. 257 |
Part III Coping with Cultural Differences | p. 259 |
Chapter 21 Some Helpful Ideas | p. 261 |
Expectations | p. 262 |
Personality Characteristics | p. 262 |
Traits and Situations | p. 264 |
Culture Shock and Stages of Adjustment | p. 265 |
D-I-E | p. 267 |
Chapter 22 Activities for Learning about American Culture | p. 271 |
Ask Questions | p. 272 |
Learn and Practice Local English | p. 273 |
Take Field Trips | p. 274 |
Talk with Experienced Foreigners | p. 280 |
Keep a Journal | p. 281 |
Learn the Names of Local and Institutional VIPs | p. 281 |
Read, Reflect | p. 282 |
View Yourself as a Teacher | p. 284 |
Conclusion | p. 285 |
Bibliography | p. 289 |
About the Author | p. 295 |