Mentality through a prism of time and cultures

Цей урок є авторською розробкою засновника проекту «English4every1», посилання на цей ресурс є обов’язковою умовою його використання з навчальною метою.

Mentality through a prism of time and cultures

Mentality (from Lat. mens, mentis — mind, thought, reasonableness, thinking, emotional state) is a set of social and psychological attitudes, habits and automatisms of consciousness which forms the ways of seeing the world and people’s perceptions who belong to one or another socio-cultural community.

1. Conditional questions

1.       What would you do if you found yourself in a foreign country?

2.       What would you do if you found yourself in a foreign country with a monthly salary of 2000 euro?

3.       What would you do if someone accused you of stealing smth. from a shop there?

4.       What would you do if you got lost in an unfamiliar city?

5.       What would you do if you left your plastic card in a hotel room?

6.       What would you do if your best friend stole something from you?

7.       What would you do if you didn’t have enough money to pay your bills?

8.       What would you do if your children were caught shoplifting?

9.       If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be?

2. Situations

1)      Someone asks you a question you do not want to answer. What do you say?

2)      The man in the seat next to you is smoking. What do you say?

3)      You arrive late to an important meeting because you stuck in a traffic jam. What do you say?

4)      You need more time to finish a task. What do you say to your employer?

5)      Your colleague’s behaviour is unfair. Are you going to complain about this incident to your boss?

 

Features of __________ mentality	Features of __________ mentality
Individualism over collectivism	hospitality
Emotionality over rationality	politeness
Duality of inner world	exuberance
Loyalty	contentment
Patience	sincerity
Perseverance	discipline
Hospitality
Passivity
Traits of ___________ character	Traits of ___________ character
hard-working	good-natured
thrifty	easy-going
skilful	humorous (always with a wink)
determined	joyful
resourceful	reserved
	punctual

 Group discussion

1)      Which mentality set is the most favourable in terms of being prosperous?

2)      Talking about the social and psychological components of mentality. What needs to be improved in Ukraine in regard to these? 

3)      Is there a way to change an unfavourable mentality set in a given country? What does it depend on (upbringing, economical situation, geopolitical status, core values in a nation etc)?

4)      Who is the most responsible person (profession) for implementing mentality change in a society? Name a job (profession), for instance, politician, teacher, priest, social worker, official. Give grounds for your opinion. 

5)      If you had a chance to choose a country for living, which country could it be?

6)      What really annoys you in the surrounding where you live and what makes you really happy?

7)      Your configuration of a mentality that survive through time and space. For example, it can be a core value, like unity, or inner integrity. Add 2-3 complimentary qualities.

Video fragment

I. You are invested with a power to transform mentality. What is your role?

II. These are new words:

Ridicule — осмеивать; высмеивать, подниматьнасмех

Crucial — ключевой; критический, решающий

Guts — мужествоIttakesgutstodosomethinglikethat — Чтобы такое сделать, нужно определенное мужество

Emulate — имитировать, копировать, стремиться превзойти

tippingpoint — переломный момент

recap — резюмировать, подводить итог

nurture — учить, обучать

III. What does this fragment teach us? Would you like to transform the society for the better? Are going to be a pioneer doing smth.different than the rest?