It’s very appealing / it’s appeals to me / it has lost its appeal
I appreciate what the other party suggested
I am sorry, it’s not quite what I meant / had on my mind
The point which I feel uncomfortable about is / it strikes me as smth
I do like it, you’ve done your best
I can’t say I like it
Actually, I find it misleading
It sounds promising
What I actually like is
Practicum 6.3
Practice Expressing Likes & Dislikes strategy. Define the setting, assume the roles of
- two colleagues in a private conversation discuss the way their boss criticized their contribution to the project. Say what you liked and didn’t like
- you don’t like the work your subordinate has done. He didn’t meet the timeline, and made a few calculating mistakes. Be polite, but firm and precise
- colleagues swap opinions on yesterday’s TV show on America’s cultural patterns. The older staff view new trends in American society as signs of moral decline, the younger ones highlight things which appeal to them
- an American, who has spent in Russia a year, in a conversation with a TV presenter shares his impressions on what strikes him most in Russians, what he likes and what he doesn’t
Text 6a
The text to follow deals in t alking mentality. Study the text and use it as a starting point for communication
Culture and Character
Americans are raised on the success ethic − work hard, get ahead, be successful in whatever you do. The success ethic,however, is alien toRussians who believe that it may be absolutely wrong to get ahead, particularly at the expense of others. Russians will not mind if their American acquaintances are successful, but they are likely to resent fellow Russians who succeed. Belief in communismhas eroded in Russia, but the egalitarian ethic still survives.
Egalitarianism is a social philosophy that advocatesthe removal of inequities among persons and a more equal distribution of benefits. In its Russian form it is not an invention of Communists but has its roots in theRussian culture. Egalitarianism should not be confused with the American idea of fairness which implies equality of all people before the law and, in a more recent interpretation, equal opportunity.
Historically, equality for members of Russian agricultural communes was considered more important than freedom. Theses village communities, with their egalitarian lifestyle and distribution of material benefits, were seen by many Russian intellectuals as necessary to protect the simple peasants from the harsh competition of Western individualism. Individual rights, it was feared, would enable the strong to prosper but cause the weak to suffer. In a society where the bulk of the population was tied to the land and restricted in movement, many aspects of Russian communism may be traced to the village community.
Despite its egalitarian ethic, Old Russia also had an entrepreneurial tradition based in a small merchant class.Merchants endorsed social and legal reform, the rule of law, civil liberties, broader educational opportunities. They rejected economic liberalism, however, and its emphasis on free trade in international exchange and free competition in the domestic economy, advocating state planning instead. Under perestroika, privatization was recognized as an essential component of economic reform. Still, sixty years of central planning and a command economy have taken their toll. Privatization and free market economy, seen by younger people as solutions to Russia's economic ills, have been slowly gaining support among the general public, particularly the older generation. While there is a streak of individualism in many Russians, the entrepreneurial spirit runs counter to Russian egalitarianism. Most Russians, it is often said, would rather bring other people down to their level than try to rise higher, a mentality known as uravnilovka (leveling). The concept of reward tied to performance is also seen as alien. A 1991 public opinion poll showed that Russians are deeply divided on the desirability of change to a free market economy. In the survey, more support for the free market was evidenced by men, younger people, and the more affluent. Less support was shown by women, older people, and lower wage earners. In interpreting the results of the poll, it should be noted that they reflect deeply-seated values and beliefs. Deeply-rooted feelings about egalitarianism and individualism are especially relevant. Here lie the seeds of further social discord.
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Living in a country that claimed to be socialist, Russians have been assumed by some Westerners to be radicals and challengers of the established order. In reality, they are more likely to be cautious and conservative defenders of the status quo. Their cruel climate, harsh history, and skeptical outlook on life have caused Russians to value stability, security, social order, and predictability, and to avoid risk. The tried and tested is preferred over the new and unknown, and with good reason. Caution and conservatism are legacies of the Russian peasant past. In a traditional agricultural society, stability was valued, and change came slowly. Man-made catastropheshaverepeatedly victimized millions of Russian commons: wars, revolutions, famines, forced collectivization, Stalin's purges and more.
Americans, a nation of risk takers, are descendants of immigrants who dared to leave the known of the Old World for the unknownof the New. In America risk takers have had the opportunity to succeed or to fail in the attempt. Indeed, risk is the quintessence of a market economy. The circumstances of the New World, its social mobility and stability, have helped Americans to accentuate the positive. For Russians, geography and history have caused them to anticipate the negative. Life has indeed been difficult for Russians. Weather, wars, violence, cataclysmic changes, oppressive rule have made them pessimists. Russian pessimism contrasts with American innocence and optimism. Americans expect things to go well and become upset when they don’t. Russians expect things to go poorly and have learned to live with misfortune. Americans are taught to keep smiling, which to Russians appears naïve, even suspect.
Less in control of their lives thanAmericans, Russians feel caught up inthe big sweeps of history where the individual does not count. The difference is simple and dramatic: in the Soviet Union nearly every life has been touched directly by the great historical spasms of revolution, war and terror. Perestroika was exciting for Americans to follow from a distance. But to Russians, it was yet another historical spasm with attendant uncertainties about the future. In 1990 a poll disclosed that some two-thirds of those polled would be willing to accept painful economic reforms if they led to an improved standard of living. Still, during 1989, crime skyrocketed countrywide, according to official statistics. The largest increases were of violent premeditated crimes, with thefts and robberies involving violence increasing by 170 percent. Assaults and murders rose by 38 percent respectively. Life expectancy after perestroika put the Soviet Union in the thirty-second place among thirty-three developed nations. These low figures are due, in part, to a high infant mortality rate. Many Russians believe that their country today is indeed on the verge of disaster − threatened by energy shortages, political strife, ethnic warfare, and environmental degradation. Some Russians even speak of genetic degradation. The best and brightest have traditionally been banished, and today many of Russia's best are being lost through emigration. Despite their pessimism, there is an admirable durability about Russians, as they have proven their ability to endure severe deprivation and suffer lengthy hardships.
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Americans, with their proclivity for rational consistency, seek clear and precise responses. The Anglo-Saxon instinct is to smooth away contradictions, to reconcile opposing elements, take up a middle ground as a basis for life. Russians, by contrast, have a reputation for extremes. When emotions are displayed, they are spontaneous and strong. Russian hospitality can be overwhelming, friendship all encompassing, compassion deep, loyalty long-lasting, drinking heavy, celebrations boisterous, obsession with security paranoid, and violence vicious. With Russians, it is often all or nothing.
Human feelings count for much in Russia, and those who do not share the depth of these feelings – Americans among them – will be considered cold and distant. Russians have a rich spirituality that does indeed contrast with American rationalism, materialism, and pragmatism. Rational and pragmaticapproach does not do for Russians. It is personal relations, feelings, and traditional values that determine a course of action. Americans are more likely to depend on the cold facts and to do what works. Belief in village virtues is still strong −self-sacrifice, sense of duty, compassion, the importance of family. Russians maintain their national integrity in a way that conforms to their inner notion ofwhat a human being should be. Above all, they have an appreciation forcomplete commitment and faith and respect it in other people as well. Even inthe postindustrial age, Russians demonstrate that emotions and personal feelings still matter.
Some nations are called a fatherland, others a motherland. Russia is clearly a motherland. In this motherland, women are strong, hard-working, nurturing, long-suffering, and the true heroes of Russia. In practice, women are recognized but unrewarded. A state that claimed to have given all power to the people did in fact give power to only a few, and almost all of them have been men. Some 90 percent of Russian womenare in the work force, where they are well represented in different professionsbut are seldom foundin supervisory or management posts. Full gender equality in the work force is found only in the lowest paying jobs, as women work as members of construction crews and farm laborers. However, while few women occupy high government positions, they are 50% of all members of local city councils, performing the day-to-day work of local government. Women − the bulwark of the system and perhaps the reason why it keeps going − actually work two shifts: one at the workplace and the other at home where they put in another forty hours a week at the traditional duties ofwife, mother, and housekeeper. Forty million Soviet men died in the three cataclysmic events of the Soviet era - the collectivization of agriculture, the political purges, and World War II - creating a severe shortage of men for two generations of women. Moreover, the mortality rate for menis three times that of women in all age groups over twenty, largely due to alcoholism and related accidents and illnesses.
Tyutchev saw Western civilization as disintegrating while Russian civilization, morally and spiritually superior, was rising. Messianism is still alive in Russia today, particularly among intellectuals, who share a belief and pride in Russia as a great power with a special mission in the world. Such views are not unknown to Americans, who at times have also believed that they have something special to bring to the less fortunate− Christianity to heathens, democracy to dictatorships, and the free market to state-run economies. Along with messianism, there is also a Russian tendencyto blame others for their misfortunes, and with certain logic. If Russians are indeed the chosen people and have a monopoly on truth, then others must be the cause of their misfortunes.
Practicum 6.4
Translate the italicized parts of Text 6a into Russian
Practicum 6.5 
Practicum 6.6
Practicum 6.7
Stack Russian national features as
-a biased foreigner, who has had unpleasant experiences of cultural clashes;
-a social scientist, giving a talk on Culture and Character;
-a political figure with right-wing views, nostalgic about Russia’s super power status.
III. Communication Practice
Team work
A team of social scientists is working out an opinion poll on cultural practices. Make up a list of questions for Russian / American respondents to find out the most common perceptions and attitudes to Russian national character in Russians / Americans. Include questions to reveal the most common likes / dislikes
Text 6b
The text to follow deals in talking mentality. Study the text and use it as a starting point for communication
