Tasks: Living in a multicultural world

Reflect upon ways that foreign cultures are a part of your everyday life. Make a list of things you do which come from foreign cultures. How do you do them? Where have you learned to do these things (friends, films, advertisements, parents, social media, etc.)? From which countries do these things originate? Make a table with four columns: Activity. Example. Inspiration. Country of origin. Compare notes with your partner.

Find examples of activities from the following situations:

• What you eat
• Music you listen to
• What you drink
• What you watch
• What you read
• Your spare time activities
• What you wear
• How you greet your friends

Many people today prefer cappuccino to black coffee, sushi to boiled cod, yoga to skiing. Do you think there is a danger of Norwegian culture and traditions disappearing? Should anything be done to save and preserve these old traditions?

Arrange a debate in which half the class prepares arguments that support the defense of traditional and local culture and the other half prepares arguments that welcome and enhance new and multicultural impulses.

Lost in Translation (2003) is a film directed by Sofia Coppola which pinpoints some of the culture clashes that Westerners might meet in Japan. She portrays two Americans, an actor well into his forties (played by Bill Murray) and a young Yale graduate (Scarlett Johansson), and how lost they feel in what, to them is an unintelligible world. Watch the trailer from the film:

• What are the actual challenges you see in this trailer? Do they occur because of language or cultural differences, or both?
• List the culture clashes you find.
• The characters in the movie are older than you. Do you think that young people today would be less confused? Why / why not?
• Why do you think many young people find Japanese culture fascinating?

Did you know that of the 6500 languages that are spoken around the world, more than half are at risk of dying out by the end of the 21st century? Norwegian is probably not in danger of disappearing altogether in the near future. However, the Norwegian language is certainly facing challenges of erosion. English has slowly crept into our everyday language and today English phrases and words are so commonplace that we think of them as Norwegian. Growing up in a multicultural setting, young people are responsible for much of this development.

Write a argumentative text titled Is the Norwegian language under threat? Discuss both positive and negative effects of this development. Give examples and include your personal opinion on the matter.