Проект на тему "Russian and American mentality in comparison"

The passport of the project

CONTENTE

1. The aim and the tasks
2. Urgency
3. What is the mentality?
4. Mentality of American and Russian people

1. American mentality
2. Russian mentality
3. Borrowings of American characteristics by Russians

5. Stereotypes

1. What is it?
2. What do American people think about Russians?
3. What do Russian people think about Americans?
4. Full characteristic in comparison.

6. Conclusion
7. Survey
8. Literature

1.

The aim: to explore the mentality of the Americans and Russians in comparison

The subject of the research: the images and ideas of Americans and Russians about each other.

Tasks:

• Examine the difference in mentalities.

• Derive and study stereotypes about Russians and Americans

• Confirm or deny these stereotypes.

• Make a comparative description of Russians and Americans

• To make a survey

The urgency of this work is due to the growing need for the formation of communicative competence among students studying foreign language. I had the idea to write such a work a long time ago, but I couldn’t exactly determine the direction. And now, having become acquainted with Americans, I firmly decided to make a report on the topic of studying mentality through the study of the American way of life, their views, their thinking, behavior and character, comparing them with the Russian way of life

2.

What is the mentality?

Mentality is a set of mental, emotional, cultural characteristics, value orientations and attitudes inherent in a social group, nation, people.

In other words, mentality is the stereotypes and the patterns of thinking.

This term is derived from the French word mentalité, which means "direction of thoughts." As a rule, we use this term in order to characterize any features of peoples and cultures.

         The mentality is formed in the course of a long historical development of the people and determines the national character and the national model of economic and social behavior, practically unchanged in the social psychology of the nation.

American and Russian mentality

In my project, I want to consider the peculiarities of the Russian and American mentality.

The American mentality is the first thing that catches the eye of people who came to the United States as a guest (and some that is why they stay here).

• Americans - people are simple, and communicate with each other, as a rule, informally. The official form of communication is SIR(for men) and MA'AM (for women). When people treat you like this, it's nice.
• They dress up too easy. Unlike Moscow, you will not find girls in heels almost anywhere, they all walk in sneakers, jeans or shorts. Muffled tones, nothing bright.
• In buses, subways you can sit, taking any poses you can, even lie down. This is all accepted here. In high school, the tables are separate for each person, and on this table right during the lesson you can fold the legs on top. Nobody will tell you either. You can also safely go to school in pajamas, if you do not have time to change clothes.
• Americans like to tease each other and, as they say, TALK SHIT
• Almost all Americans greet strangers. They say “Hi”, “Hi, how are you?” or “good morning”, while usually smiling, sometimes full-mouth. Sometimes they just show you the palm of your hand in greeting.

3.

• If you meet a person several times already, in order to smooth out an awkward moment, people begin to talk about the weather or about something insignificant that they have called SMALL TALK.
• People around you should think that everything is fine with you. You cannot discuss your private problems if there are people nearby. You are well off, happy and have no problems a priori.
• Americans pay money for the any services rendered to them.
• To solve problems, they resort to very entertaining tricks. (To solve the problem of long waiting for baggage at the airport of Houston, the management decided to increase the time of transportation of passengers from the plane’s ramp to the baggage claim hall by 6 times. Passengers didn’t complain about baggage delays anymore.)

Speaking about Russia, Russians have something to be proud of, we have a huge and strong country, we have talented people and deep literature, and we also know our own weaknesses. If we want to become better, we must know them.

• The principle: "what people will say". Dependence on people's opinions.
• The desire to live the truth. That everything would be fair.
• In choosing between reason and feeling, Russians choose feeling.
• An inferiority complex (more flaws than advantages) – this is the main point of Russian mentality, which differ us from American people.
• A smile in Russian communication is not an obligatory attribute of politeness - gloom and unsmiling.
• Love to dispute.
• The principle of "do not hang out" - keep your opinion with you, if it did not work out.
• Love for freebies.
• The place of humanism in us is pity. And it’s the reason of such huge number of beggars.

4.

Borrowing

I want to note that even 10 years ago, there were no similarities between the Russian and American mentality. Due to the fact that tourist flows have developed at such a rate that now we can safely say that a lot of borrowing has appeared in the mentality of these nations. For example:

1. Emancipation in public places
2. Performing challenges
3. Small items in stores at the box office
4. Films
5. Clothes (tones)

STEREOTYPES

There are a number of stereotypes around the world regarding any nation. Russians and Americans are no exception.

Stereotype - the word is Greek, STEREO means “solid”, TIPOS - imprint. Therefore, the literal meaning of this word is “hard stamp of thinking, imprint of the brain”.

In general, a stereotype is a well-established attitude to current events, actions, which has developed under the influence of social conditions and previous human experience.

What do American people think about Russians?

• Russians love alcohol. Is this true? Not really. Although the Russians do not occupy the highest position in the number of alcoholics on the planet, they are close to this. Therefore, alcoholism was declared a national problem.
• They have stone evil faces. In fact, I believe that this is the most erroneous interpretation. Yes, if foreigners meet Russians in official places, Russians seem to them rude and not friendly, but you should sit down with the Russians at the common table, as they will start treating you as your closest friends. So, the Russians are not smiling to seem friendly. They only smile when they really see or hear something funny and see a true friend in you. Russians do an excellent job with affairs, and they have no need to smile everywhere.
• It’s REALLY terribly cold. You can’t argue with that, because the climate of Russia is actually cold.

5.

• They love bears. And who does not love them? But why Russia is associated with bears? The bear is not randomly chosen as a symbol of our country. A lot of bears live in Russian forests, but this does not mean that they can be seen walking along the streets (as many Americans believe). This animal was considered to be the king of the forest for many years, it personified majestic strength and courage. In addition, the bear has the mind and wit. Images of animals are found on the arms of Yaroslavl, Perm, Khabarovsk, Norilsk, Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, etc.
• They still love SSSR. In a sense, this is true. For many Russians, the era of the USSR is the time when great scientific discoveries were made, there was economic growth, etc. Soviet history as a symbol of the rise and fall of the Russian people. The Soviet Union, of course, was not a paradise, especially for foreigners. But, I think, it is possible to understand why the USSR still evokes bright memories and feelings. How not to remember vinyl records, receivers and just a way of life! And I think that Russians should really be proud of those times.

What do Russian people think about Americans?

• All Americans love McDonalds. It’s true that restaurant chains such as McDonalds and Burger King have flooded most streets. But in fact, American cuisine is very diverse and tasty. At the same time, there is also the traditional "American" cuisine, which is also very diverse from state to state. From gumbo and jambalaya, to seafood and shellfish. So American cuisine is more than just McDonald's.
• These lazy Americans do not walk. ALL. To be able to drive is a necessity in America, people simply will not go further than a quarter. People can even apologize to you for taking your place in the parking lot, and now you have to walk as much as 200 meters to the store. But if everything is reduced to the fact that Americans are lazy, it will be stupid.
• Every American has a weapon. Wherever you live (in America), in the region of 100 feet there is at least one person who has ever fired and it is not necessary that he has a weapon. But many Americans do not have weapons and support restrictions on their possession, but at the same time, no one believes that it should be banned altogether.

6.

• Americans are very polite, noisy and love to chat. Well, if to speak as a whole it is really so. They are very friendly and love to chat, knowing that you are from Europe, and especially if you are from Russia. A lot of questions about your country, and about how you like or dislike it, and at the end of the conversation, of course, wishes for a good rest or work.

Americans by Russians and American people

7.

Russians by Americans and Russian people

8.

After a comparative analysis of Russians and Americans, one can say that, in general, Russians have a positive attitude towards Americans. In their opinion, America is a highly developed country, and its citizens are educated, but undisciplined, like to eat, go to a cafe;

Americans are mostly positive about the Russian people, or they don’t think about them at all.

Conclusion

Knowledge of the mentality of Russians and Americans is very important in the modern world, as national ties and contacts are developing now, and knowledge of mentality will only help in this process. Also, based on stereotypes, the similarity between Americans and Russians is rather external - multi-ethnic, the vast territories that they occupy, etc., but their spiritual world is different. Knowledge of the main stereotypes makes, in our opinion, a significant contribution to the prevention of intercultural conflicts of Russian-American communication. This topic is relevant not only because the United States is one of the world powers; The root cause of the usefulness of this topic is that the establishment of international relations is perhaps the most pressing issue in our time.