토익스피킹 모의테스트
쿠폰등록
레벨테스트
수강신청
파워수업
자주하는질문
단체문의

상담 및 문의전화

1688-3327

입금계좌안내

국민은행 218101-04-232412

그레이트디벨로프먼트(주)

중급5단계 글읽기

Lesson 29 --- DIFFERENT CUSTOMS/다른 관습들
Lesson29: DIFFERENT CUSTOMS
 

Unique Letters

People of the Jingpo minority in Yunan Province in south China are well known for their cleverness at writing letters in objects rather than ink. To show that one misses a relative, or a friend who is far away, one will send a unique letter composed of a root plus a few grains of sesame. The root represents "miss" while the sesame means "very much." If one receives a piece of beef or pork from someone, the sender is saying that, "Someone in the family died the other day, but I am sorry that we did not inform you to attend the funeral because of the long distance."

Such letters are more complicated when young people use them to express love affairs. When a young man wants to show his love for a girl, he will send her a love letter made up of a root with a chili, a bulb of garlic, and several grains of sesame. This can be translated into this: I miss (root) you very much (sesame). My feeling for you is as hot as the chili. I am eager to see you as I must have a good talk with you (garlic). If the girl accepts him after reading it, she will return the letter, informing him that, "Ok, I know now, and my feelings for you are the same." But if she refuses, she will return the letter after adding some charcoal to it, which means that the possibility of her accepting him is as dark as the charcoal and to just forget about her.

When the girl attaches a sort of grass named milky grass to the letter, she is saying, "Don't get worried. I want to know more about you." Getting the reply, the young man will put two fresh chestnut leaves face to face and send them to her love together with a chili and some grains of corn, beans and unhusked rice to express his eagerness to be her bridegroom. If the girl replied by sending him some tobacco, the man should be wild with joy because she finally will become his bride. But he has to feel sad when he gets two chestnut leaves back to back. Getting the reply, the young man will put two fresh chestnut leaves face to face and send them to his love together with a chili, some grains of corn, beans and unhusked rice to express his eagerness to be her bridegroom. If the girl replies by sending him some tobacco, the man should be wild with joy because she finally will become his bride. But he should feel sad if he gets two chestnut leaves back to back.

Written by : Ye Qinfa.

Here are other customs from other countries:

CANADA AND THE U.S.
Don’t arrive early if you’re invited to someone’s home.

INDONESIA
Never point to anything with your foot.

KOREA
Don’t pass something to an older person or superior with only one hand.

SAMOA
Don’t eat when you’re walking in public.

THAILAND
Never touch anyone except a child on the head.

1. Does your culture follow any of these customs?
2. Why do you think people have these customs?
3. What other interesting customs do you know?
4. What customs should a visitor in your country know about?
5. Are your customs still being strictly observed these days? Why or why not?
6. What are some things that define a culture? For example, music, language etc.
7. What do you think is interesting about your culture?
8· Do you know much about your own culture?
9. When people from other countries think about your culture, what do they usually think of?
10. In your culture is it polite to be straightforward and direct when you talk to someone?
11. What do you like about your culture?
12. What don't you like about your culture?
13. How do young people in your culture behave differently from older people?
14. How do young people in your culture behave differently from people in this culture?
15. Are there many people of different cultures in your country? Are you friends with any?

중급5단계

번호 제목
Total 64 Posts
64
63
62
61
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
50
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1