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[leeroy]

"Western culture" studies - how to communicate effectively with "native speakers of English":

Unit 1: Initial meetings & greetings..
* - "You are fat!" - Things not to say when you first meet someone
* - "How many brothers and sisters do you have?" - Questions that, no matter what stage of a relationship you are in, always sound weird.
* - "How are you?" - Ten other ways of greeting people

Unit 2: Gender studies...
* - "You and your boyfriend, sex often?" - Knowing the boundaries of polite conversation
* - "You have (a) big *beep*?/!" - When to include genitalia in discussion...
* - "Why aren't you married?" - Western women, more than just baby-making machines...

Unit 3: Food and drink...
* - "Do you like rice?" - World food, Things Other Than Rice
* - "Have you eaten?" - How to make conversation about things other than having eaten/being about to eat/having just eaten
* - "Western people eat fatly" - 10 Other things that westerners eat - not just hamburgers

Unit 4: Intercultural issues...
* - "Saving face" - How honesty is valued more than appearance
* - "I don't know" - It's OK to say this...
* - "You look nice today" - Not everyone likes to have their arse licked...

Unit 5: ?



Yeah yeah yeah, negative stereotypes, generalisations, etc...

[dyak]

Unit 5: Functional vocabulary awareness...

* - 'Big Ben was fascinating' - Other adjectives to use instead of nice, good, boring and interesting.
* - 'Teacher, I need my presence' - How to hassle the teacher with correct English if you just came for the tick.
* - 'It's a bit chilly out today' - How to talk endlessly about the weather.

[guest of Japan]

Unit 6: Idiosyncracies of Idiomatic Expressions

* - "It's raining cats and dogs" - When an expression becomes an annoying cliche.

* - "Make like a tree and get out of here." - Fun with mixed metaphors and Bushisms.

* - "I would never have guessed it." - The importance of complex grammar to say nothing.

[Glenski]

Unit 7. Improper uses of dictionaries...

* - I feel so beguiled. - Using words nobody does today.
* - He felt so joyful. - Using words that hardly make sense.
* - I'm a safety driver. - Using words improperly * - I did it for the sake of oneself. - Using a dictionary without thinking of the actual words you mean to use.

NOTE: These are all real Japanese examples.