The evidence

yue wang

mengyao ding

boshi chen

Outline for final paper

Outline for final paper




Introduction


By finishing my three interviews, I found that there are great differences between America and my country.  So I want to write a paper about the different cultures between America and China.  Through comparing these two countries, I will show some aspects of these differences in education, food and festival.





Body


1. education

  a. studying ways
  b. students learning condition
  c. grades system

2. food
  a. tastes
  b. different meaning
  c. cooking styles

3. festival
  a. celebration ways
  b. from different origins
  c. different festivals




Conclusion

Different countries have different culture.  After comparing America and China, I learn more about customs of America and I could study better in America.

Comparing interview three to two and one

Comparing interview three to two and one


I have finished all my three interviews.  From these interviews, I learned a lot from them.  I know how to prepare and work, so I think the third interview is the best one in these three interviews.   I studied how to prepare for a great interview.  I knew that I need to print out all of the questions on papers.  It also necessary to choose a quiet place for interview.  And from the first and the second interview, I am not nervous like before anymore.  My third interview, I prepared a lot about the questions.  I designed a few extra questions in order to make the second interview richer.  My first two interviewees are all from America and the third one is from Malaysia.  They are all very friendly and they help me finish the interview.  The first interview spent about 30 minutes and the second interview spent more than 45 minutes.  And this one is also about 40 minutes.  I talked with these three interviewees about school life, study and family.  Lately, we also talked about the hobbies and dreams.  I was very excited after each interview.  I learned more about the life of America people and other country culture.  I am studying in the USA.  And I need to adapt to my new life in the United States.

Using Quotes Correctly

Using quotes correctly

Introductory of  America


The full of the U.S.A. is called "the United States of  America".  It is located in central  North America.  It has forty-eight contiguous states and the capital of the U.S.A. is Washington,D.C.  It lies between the Pacific and Atantic Oceans, and it bordered by Canada to the north and Mexio to the south.  [1]  The united stated is the forth largest country with 3.79 million square miles in the world.  It has over 312 million people.  The economy of the U.S.A. is the world's largest national economy.  [2]  The United states is a multiculation nation.  It homes to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions and values.  The English is the national language of America.  And Spanish, spoken by 12% of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught  second language.  [3]


Reference:

[1]. http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/usa-state-and-capital-map.html

[2]. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2009&ey=2016&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=111&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr1.x=49&pr1.y=17

[3]. http://www.adfl.org/resources/enrollments.pdf

interview scores

My top three scores


1. Nicholas S   interview here   19 points

2. Wenting Cai   interview here   18 points

3. Tiffany S   interview here   18points

Grader Interviews

click here.

The third interview

The third interview

Interview preparation

This is my third interview.  After finishing my first two interviews, I have learned a lot from them.  I know how to prepare and work, so I think this interview is the best.  I interview one of my friends as my interviewee.  His name is JS and he is from Malaysia.  He has living here for about 2 years.  We knew each other because we had one same class before.  And we had the interview last Wednesday.  Before the Wednesday, I printed out all of the questions on papers and brought some pens.  On the Wednesday, we had the interview in a quiet place in the Atwood.  During the interview, everything is going well.  I made notes and we had a great interview.  We talked for about 40 minutes and I asked many details.

Interview report

I have done the entire three interviews.  From these three interviews, I learned a lot.  The first thing that I have learned should be the knowledge of Malaysia.  Malaysia is beautiful and kind country.  Malaysia is a multi-culture country.  There are mainly three kinds of cultures in Malaysia: Malaysian culture, Chinese culture and Indian culture.  The second thing I have learned is the interview skills.  The preparation is very important.  You should print the questions on the papers.  And learn a little about the topic is very helpful for the interview.  During the interview, you need to be relaxed, nervous has side effects on your interview.  Also taking notes or recording the entire interview help you with review the interview.  The third thing might be communication skills.  Sometimes, visual images and body languages are much easier for people to understand.  While you have a communication with others, listening is also very important.  Listening carefully makes you understand easier and focus on the communication.  Listening also shows your respect to others.

Country report

Malaysia, located in Southeast Asia, a federal constitutional monarchy.  Malaysia is declared its independence from British in August 31^st in 1957.  Since 16^th century, Malaysia had been invaded by Portugal, Holland and British. In1911, Malaysia became a British colony.  The populations of Malaysia are mainly aborigines, occupies about 67.4%.  Then, the second largest population is Chinese, occupies around 24%.  Then the third is Indian, occupies 7.3%.  And the other nation occupies 0.7%.  Among the aborigines, there are about 55% of Malayans.  As Chinese also is an enormous population, Chinese language is very common in Malaysia.  There are about three languages spoken in Malaysia.  There are Malay, English and Chinese.

The cuisine also reflects the multi-ethnic makeup of population in Malaysia.  Lots of cultures have influenced the cuisine.  Much of the influence comes from the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Javanese, and Sumatran cultures.  The cuisine of Malaysia is very similar to the cuisine from Singapore, Brunei and Filipino.  Also, cuisine in different states may be different.  As the time goes by, food in other culture has been assimilated into Malaysia.  A good example is some Chinese restaurants in Malaysia also serve with Malay cuisine.

Malaysians celebrate a number of holidays and festivities throughout the year.  The most important holiday is the "Hari Merdeka".  It is the Independence Day, also known as "Merdeka" (Freedom), on 31 August.  It commemorates the independence of the Federation of Malaya.  Some other important holidays are the Labor Day (1 May), the King's birthday (first Saturday of June) and so on.  Chinese New year is celebrated in Malaysia too.  It is the most prominent, lasting for 15 days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia

Transcript of the interview

H: Hao Xu

J: JS

H: Hi, JS.  I am doing a research on your country.  So I want to have a interview with you, would you give me some help?

J: Sure, of course.

H: Thanks.  Let’s start our interview.

J: No problem.

H: Where are you from?

J: I am from Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.  It’s the most populous city in Malaysia.  I am very happy to live there.  I think it’s a very beautiful city.

H: I learned that Malaysia has two parts, the east one and the west one.  Which part does your home town belong to?

J: That’s right. Malaysia has two parts.  And my home town is belongs to the east part.

H: Do you have some sister or brother in your family?

J: Year, I have an order brother.  He has worked in Malaysia.  He is three years older than me.

H: When you leave your hometown and come to the USA?

J: About 2 years ago.  When I graduated from my high school in Malaysia, I decided to study abroad.

H: Could you tell me something about your family?

J: Our family is very big and we lived together.  Unlike America, people become adult and become so independent.  Now, my father and my mother are still lives with my grandparents.  Actually, we consider living with families as a kind of happiness.  In Malaysia, most of the families are like this.

H: It is very similar to China. What is the weather like in your hometown?

J: Much better than the weather here.  The weather in my hometown is very pleasant.  As my hometown is close to the sea, the humidity is high. We just have one climate in my hometown.  The average temperature is about between 26 ℃ and 30 ℃.  We got a lot of rains.

H: There are great difference between Malaysia and here.

J: When I just come here, I feel so cold and I feel very uncomfortable.  But I adapt the weather here now.

H: Why do you choose to study abroad?

J: Because of myself.  I want to study abroad to learn more different culture.

H: Great.  Could you tell me something about the education system of your country?

J: In Malaysia, we go to preschools first.  At about 3-4 years old, we attend into the pre-school playgroups.  Then we go to kindergartens for another two years.  After that, we spend 6 years in primary schools.  After primary schools, we go to secondary schools for 5years.  Then, it is another 2 years in high schools.  Then bachelor degree takes 3 years to finish.  In Malaysia, only the primary schools are compulsory.  But pre-schools, primary schools and secondary school are free education.  The government takes education very seriously.

H: It is very interesting.  Will you graduate in SCSU?

J: I think so.  After I graduate from SCSU, I plan to go back to Malaysia to find a work and live with my family again.

H: Let’s talk about some other things.  What is the form of government in your country?

J: Federal constitutional monarchy and Federal parliamentary democracy.

H: Could you tell me more about that?

J: Sure. In Malaysia, we don’t have president, but we have Yang di-Pertuan Agong.  I think Yang di-Pertuan Agong just like president in America.  He is the head of the state of Malaysia.  Then, we got prime minister and deputy prime minister.  Prime minister is the head of the government of Malaysia.  Prime minister is officially appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

H: The state of Malaysia and the government of Malaysia is not the same?

J: Yes.  The prime minister and his cabinet should be collectively responsible to the parliament.

H: What is the most popular sport in your country?

J: I think it should be Badminton. It’s very popular in Malaysia.

H: Can you tell me something about the traditional food?

J: For Staple food, we have rice and noodles. We have lots of dishes to eat with the staple food.

H: What is the famous food in Malaysia?

J: Laksa.  It is famous among Nyonya dishes.

H: Is the food in your country spicy?

J: Yes. We like cooking with pepper as spices.

H: How about festivals?  Can you tell me what festivals you celebrate?

J: We have lot of festivals. The most important should be the "Hari Merdeka".  It is our Independence Day.  It is on August 31.  We also have Labor Day, Maulidur Rasul, King’s birthday and so on.

H: How do you celebrate these holidays?

J: For some national festivals like "Hari Merdeka", we will have several days off and we usually go travelling with our families. For other festivals, we may have a family dinner together.

H: Tell me one thing that makes you proud of your country.

J: The food in Malaysia.  Malaysia is known as Food Paradise.  Cates from different cultures mingle with each other. Chinese food, Indian cuisine and Portugal food are also can be found easily in Malaysia.

H: How old are people in your country by the time they got married?

J: I think is between 25 and 30 years old.

H: Is there some places you recommend me to visit in your country?

J: Kuala Lumpur and Malacca. As you know, is my hometown and it’s a very beautiful city.  Malacca is very famous in the world.  It is the oldest city in Malaysia.  Also the food in Malacca is famous.

H: I think I have got all answers of my questions.  Thanks a lot.

J: You are welcome.