60–75 minutes (30 minutes for small groups; 15 minutes to report; 15–30 minutes for debriefing)
General L P, D, M
1. To identify values that are implied by common expressions
2. To explore the tacit ways that culture is transferred from generation to generation
• Saying It Makes It So Handout
• Paper, pencils
• Flipchart (optional)
1. Place participants in groups of 4–6 people. Provide each person with the “Saying It Makes It So” handout. Give the groups approximately 30 minutes to do the following:
• Add any expressions that group members remember from their childhood.
• Identify where people learned these expressions.
• Identify the implicit values being taught by each expression.
• Discuss whether there are differences within the group based on cultural experiences including geography, gender, race/ethnicity, and so on.
2. Returning to the larger group, ask small groups to share the values they identified for each expression and any differences they might have identified within their group. If time allows, record these values on a flipchart so the group can see the similarities and differences.
1. Were there differences in the expressions people knew or remembered? What do you think these differences are based on? From whom did you learn these expressions? How early in life?
2. How do you feel about these expressions and the implicit or explicit values they express?
3. What values did your group members demonstrate as they participated? Which values were most commonly held? Why do you think that is?
4. Were there expressions you had never heard before? Why do you think that is?
5. How could you apply information from this experience to your everyday life?
1. The values of a culture are often passed on by the implicit and explicit use of common expressions.
2. Expressions can serve as a tool to better understand tacit cultural values.
Note: This process could be very helpful in preparing people to visit or work internationally.
3. Following Step 2 (reporting back to the larger group regarding U.S. cultural sayings), provide participants with sayings common to the country they are preparing to study or visit and have them identify the values implicit in the sayings.
4. Ask participants to identify differences in the values represented in U.S. expressions and those in the expressions of the chosen country, as represented in the sayings provided.
5. Ask participants to identify behavioral modifications they might want to make to be most effective in the chosen country based on the identified value differences.
Note: This process is likely to take longer because people are being asked to generate their own lists of expressions. This will be a much richer process, however, if there is a mix of cultures represented in the group.
1. Ask each person to write down any expressions or idioms they remember from their own experiences—both past and current.
2. Place participants in groups of 4–6. Have the small groups identify common expressions and unique expressions, identifying the source of the latter (e.g., nationality, geography, gender, race/ethnicity, etc.). Have the group identify the values implicit in each saying. Ask one person in each group to write this information down.
3. After participants return to the larger group, ask each small group to report the expressions that were shared by most people in their group and those that were unique, including the values implicit in each saying and the source of the expression. If time allows, record the values on a flipchart for comparison.
Adapted from activities in Developing Intercultural Awarenesss: A Cross-Cultural Training Handbook by L. Robert Kohls and John M. Knight.
1. Make hay while the sun shines.
2. Keep your ear to the ground.
3. Fly by the seat of your pants.
4. Easy as rolling off a log.
5. Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.
6. The early bird catches the worm.
7. Wrong side of the tracks.
8. Roll with the punches.
9. Can’t see the forest for the trees.
10. Throw your hat into the ring.
11. Don’t make waves.
12. There is more than one way to skin a cat.
13. Dyed in the wool.
14. Shape up or ship out.
15. Don’t take any wooden nickels.
16. Save for a rainy day.
17. Right off the bat.
18. Don’t cry over spilt milk.
19. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
20. A penny saved is a penny earned.
21. Waste not; want not.
22. It’s not whether you win or lose; it’s how you play the game.
23. God helps those who help themselves.
24. You’ve made your bed; now lie in it.
25. Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
26. Time is money.
27. Children should be seen but not heard.
28. A woman’s place is in the home.
29. Fish or cut bait.