Maybe the professor just isn't funny
September 19, 2015 4:21 PM Subscribe
Do you have any suggestions for books, websites, other to help a new arrival to the US with learn general cultural references?
I'm mentoring a Chinese student who is attending a mid-size US university. This is her first time in the US, and her English is fantastic. She asked me if I knew of any resources that could help her understand more US cultural references since sometimes she feels lost.
I think I will start with getting her a copy of E.D. Hirsh's Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, but it is pretty heavy. Perhaps the "New First" edition for middle schoolers would be better.
Most specifically, she is concerned that she doesn't understand her professors' jokes. I did tell her that it is possible that there are many US-born students who also don't get the references and are laughing to be polite. Sometimes professors just aren't funny. But she is really concerned, so I thought I would see if you all have any suggestions - either for ways to improve her understanding or ways to accept that no one gets all the references all the time. (I feel like someone should have a memoir about this.)
I think I will start with getting her a copy of E.D. Hirsh's Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, but it is pretty heavy. Perhaps the "New First" edition for middle schoolers would be better.
Most specifically, she is concerned that she doesn't understand her professors' jokes. I did tell her that it is possible that there are many US-born students who also don't get the references and are laughing to be polite. Sometimes professors just aren't funny. But she is really concerned, so I thought I would see if you all have any suggestions - either for ways to improve her understanding or ways to accept that no one gets all the references all the time. (I feel like someone should have a memoir about this.)
Best answer: An ex of mine is a third culture kid, and despite having been born and living his whole life in the US, simply being raised by foreign parents and speaking another language at home cut him off from a ton of cultural references I just take for granted.
And then there's my dad, who had a terrible family life as a child and was sent to live his formative years on a secluded farm with a great aunt--he missed a lot of cultural references, too. He's really only got a secondhand anecdotal knowledge of the 60s. His entire pop culture world only starts in the 70s when he met my mom, and most of his linguistic quirks and references (words, phrases, etc) are unique to my mom and her family.
So you can go ahead and use those examples with your student, to just reinforce that this is common even among Americans and a symptom of simply having a different background, and not something she should feel bad about.
That said, she might like an idiom dictionary. That boyfriend and I went through about a month where I taught him an idiom a day and he thought it was great entertainment. Idioms are pretty silly sometimes and can lead down reference rabbit holes with lots of good material in there.
posted by phunniemee at 4:50 PM on September 19, 2015 [8 favorites]
And then there's my dad, who had a terrible family life as a child and was sent to live his formative years on a secluded farm with a great aunt--he missed a lot of cultural references, too. He's really only got a secondhand anecdotal knowledge of the 60s. His entire pop culture world only starts in the 70s when he met my mom, and most of his linguistic quirks and references (words, phrases, etc) are unique to my mom and her family.
So you can go ahead and use those examples with your student, to just reinforce that this is common even among Americans and a symptom of simply having a different background, and not something she should feel bad about.
That said, she might like an idiom dictionary. That boyfriend and I went through about a month where I taught him an idiom a day and he thought it was great entertainment. Idioms are pretty silly sometimes and can lead down reference rabbit holes with lots of good material in there.
posted by phunniemee at 4:50 PM on September 19, 2015 [8 favorites]
My suggestion is pretty lowbrow, but Uproxx focuses on current pop culture and especially watercooler-grade tidbits that strike me as the kinds of things a professor might reference for laughs. For stuff more similar to what E.D. Hirsch covers, CrashCourse has quick overviews of US history & politics, plus things a high school student might know about literature.
posted by Monsieur Caution at 5:00 PM on September 19, 2015
posted by Monsieur Caution at 5:00 PM on September 19, 2015
Very lowbrow: have her start reading People magazine. It has celebrities, fashion, a little bit of politics, major crimes and scandals -- a little bit of everything.
posted by BlahLaLa at 5:12 PM on September 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by BlahLaLa at 5:12 PM on September 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
She should read a summary of the most important bible stories. I didn't realize until I got to China how many of our common conversational phrases and references come from the bible, even for secular people.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:13 PM on September 19, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:13 PM on September 19, 2015 [6 favorites]
Fairy tales, sitcoms, classic movies--though it can be hard to convince students that these are useful and not a waste of time!
posted by wintersweet at 5:18 PM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by wintersweet at 5:18 PM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't have enough cultural literacy to recommend a current good TV show for her to watch. But about 17 years ago my fresh-off-the-boat husband literally got most of his introductory cultural literacy from watching Friends. Also Mad About You. Which is maybe not something to brag about but it seriously helped him.
Can someone else here recommend a comparable current(ish) sitcom that is mostly about people living their daily lives? I think it would help her in a general sense. The reference books y'all are recommending will be handy, but humor is learned from context, not a reference book.
posted by telepanda at 5:18 PM on September 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
Can someone else here recommend a comparable current(ish) sitcom that is mostly about people living their daily lives? I think it would help her in a general sense. The reference books y'all are recommending will be handy, but humor is learned from context, not a reference book.
posted by telepanda at 5:18 PM on September 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
I agree that television and movies are probably the best way to do this, because (1) they have facial expressions, gestures, mannerisms, and tone of voice in a way that books don't, (2) the complexity and nuance of social interactions communicates much more clearly, and (3) I'd imagine that they actually a way by which norms and social expectations actually become standardized across America (which is to say, if people all over see the same show, they'll share an expectation of how a social interaction should progress.. I'd let her interests and inclinations guide her, but contemporary tv comedies seem ideal.
posted by mrmanvir at 5:36 PM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mrmanvir at 5:36 PM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
I agree about watching television and movies, especially if you two can watch them together and discuss the details. Of course, movies are fiction even when they're based on reality but they demonstrate a lot of cultural customs and values. For example, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is so hilarious to me as an American adult who went to middle school in the US; I first saw it at the dollar theater with friends from Belgium and Taiwan and they just didn't get it because their school experiences were totally different. College movies would probably be a great way to start!
posted by smorgasbord at 5:52 PM on September 19, 2015
posted by smorgasbord at 5:52 PM on September 19, 2015
The Simpsons might be a good intro -- especially in the later seasons, they seem to kill a lot of episode time with random spoofs of other pop culture. And just knowing the Simpsons well will hold you in good stead for some increasingly middle-aged nerds...
posted by rdn at 6:19 PM on September 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by rdn at 6:19 PM on September 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yeah, 30 minute sitcom TV is the way to go. I recommend this in literally every language thread because I learned catalan by watching the simpsons and mad about you both dubbed and subbed.
posted by poffin boffin at 6:19 PM on September 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 6:19 PM on September 19, 2015 [3 favorites]
Yeah, television is the way to go. Unless her professor is me, in which case I am just talking about cats. Seriously, "Do not divide by zero: it makes kittens cry" is the best laugh I have had this semester.
posted by yarntheory at 6:56 PM on September 19, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by yarntheory at 6:56 PM on September 19, 2015 [8 favorites]
My wife said she finally felt American once she got Seinfeld beyond Kramer's wackiness.
posted by askmehow at 7:26 PM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by askmehow at 7:26 PM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Another, sort of going sideways at the issue suggestion - see if she can record some of her lectures, and then share with you some particular examples of things she was perplexed by. That might help you get a better idea of how to help.
posted by stormyteal at 8:23 PM on September 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by stormyteal at 8:23 PM on September 19, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm American, born and bred, but I've been on the edges of pop culture my whole life. I asked a question a while ago, asking for a list of movies that have become a part of American pop culture. I haven't worked my way through them all yet, but the ones I've watched really help me understand all sorts of references. Here's my question. Tell her to watch Casablanca first. Then she could basically pick anything in that list at random (I'd stay away from the tv series recommendations because they're larger projects) and she'll pretty much immediately start understanding more jokes and references.
posted by colfax at 2:34 AM on September 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by colfax at 2:34 AM on September 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
If I came to you and said, "I heard somebody speaking a language I didn't speak. How can I learn it?" you probably wouldn't recommend that I choose a foreign language dictionary at random and hope it's right. You'd ask for some hints as to what the specific language I heard was.
And pop culture is even more complex than language. Look at it this way: her classmates probably absorbed most of their basic language skills in the first five years of their life. Then they spent fifteen years absorbing American culture. I don't think there's any way she can completely catch up to them.
As a result, for any specific source of pop culture that your friend studies, there's no guarantee that it's going to overlap with the specific references her professor is making.
So... I endorse Stormyteal's suggestion that she record her lectures for you, or at least that she writes down some of the phrases that perplexed her. Then you can start figuring out which subset of American culture the professor is drawing from. If it's 1970's cinema, she's going to need a different pop culture study course than if he's joking about 1990's video games, or Victorian novels.
posted by yankeefog at 2:45 AM on September 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
And pop culture is even more complex than language. Look at it this way: her classmates probably absorbed most of their basic language skills in the first five years of their life. Then they spent fifteen years absorbing American culture. I don't think there's any way she can completely catch up to them.
As a result, for any specific source of pop culture that your friend studies, there's no guarantee that it's going to overlap with the specific references her professor is making.
So... I endorse Stormyteal's suggestion that she record her lectures for you, or at least that she writes down some of the phrases that perplexed her. Then you can start figuring out which subset of American culture the professor is drawing from. If it's 1970's cinema, she's going to need a different pop culture study course than if he's joking about 1990's video games, or Victorian novels.
posted by yankeefog at 2:45 AM on September 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
A good friend of mine from Columbia credits Friends and Seinfeld for being the most helpful resources for understanding American culture.
posted by emd3737 at 5:11 AM on September 20, 2015
posted by emd3737 at 5:11 AM on September 20, 2015
Also, it depends on what region y'all are living in. When I lived in the South the culture and references made there are much different than were I live now (Washington State). Whenever I lived in the South people would look at me and say, "You're not from around here, are you?" all of the time because of culture clash. Now I get the PNW equivalent, "Where are you from?" So watching television and reading tvtropes is all well and good, but knowing the local culture will go a long way too... local museums, tourist spots, local theatre, art exhibits, and even sports will help with that.
posted by patheral at 11:20 AM on September 20, 2015
posted by patheral at 11:20 AM on September 20, 2015
To be honest this is no different than when I as an American spent 6 months where the only English language tv I had access to was the BBC. You'd be amazed at all the cultural asides and jokes on the shows that went totally over my head and I count myself as someone that is fairly clued in and somewhat of an Anglophile. It really only gets better with exposure and by asking questions to someone who does know.
I imagine the transition from Chinese to American cultural is even more daunting.
posted by mmascolino at 1:13 PM on September 20, 2015
I imagine the transition from Chinese to American cultural is even more daunting.
posted by mmascolino at 1:13 PM on September 20, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Oh, and TV Tropes for understanding film and TV stuff. You can use it to see multiple examples of the same concept.
posted by SMPA at 4:32 PM on September 19, 2015 [1 favorite]