American character and American culture

Xu Jiaqi

Nowadays，America is no doubt projecting its image of the greatest power and endeavoring to exert its impact in every corner of the world.For certain，the intercultural communication becomes more and more frequent.It is high time that we we college students especially English majors learn about American character deeply rooted in American culture.Because we are all in a measure involved in it for globalization.

For the record，American character is the externalization American culture.American culture molds American character.The iceberg Principle also applies to the relationship between American character and American culture.One eighth of what we can perceive is American character while the rest hidden part is American culture which supports the visible part.Culture is defined as the social behavior and norms found in human societies.Thereupon to some extent character is an essential part of social norms which constitutes culture.Then learning American character offers an access to understand American culture.

Actually，American character changes over time resulted from multiple factors.Whether contemporary foreign culture or historical reasons can inevitably affect the generation who go through them.For instance，the Great Depression endows people with strong will affecting them profoundly.Take the Civil War as another example，slavery was abolished and black peoples rights were primarily recognized partly accounting for “the melting pot”.Generally speaking，people of different ages have their exclusive memory and peculiar qualities regardless of individual differences.

Above all，Americans value both hard work and amusement.They consider the ability to work as a blessing as well as a way to fulfill themselves.And they are willing to prolong their working years.As is shown in the American retirement policy，the citizens could get their pension at the age of 62 in advance but only 70 percent.The youngest age that can receive the pension in full is 65.If one chooses to postpone retirement，he could get the delayed retirement credits.The longer he delays，the more pension he will get.Compared with America，retirement in China seems to be much earlier.The recognized age of retirement is between 50 and 60.Besides，just as the saying goes，all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy，Americans also play hard. This can be reflected in class.You can have a glimpse of it from the random organization of desks in class.

Secondly，Americans admire self-made man.That means they appreciate those who are ambitious to fight their way with their own efforts.The belief that the whole destiny is in their hands has become part of their temperament.Countless examples about how a man finds his place in life prove that the belief truly works.One of them is the first black American president Barack Obamas story.He started his political career on his own single-handedly and was once ashamed of his skin. There was even a time when he became an addict.But fortunately， a silver lining appeared and he worked his way up to the president .Also，such heroes exist in the popular films.The most well-known ones must be the heroes in Justice League and avengers such as superman and batman. Americans have been instilled in such belief of Individualism that everyone could be a hero. Thus no wonder Americans are competitive.

Thirdly，independence and equality count in their culture.We Chinese students are always stunned by the fact that American teenagers over move out of their parents home and earn their own living.Actually，it is clearly regulated in law.Historically，America is born dependent since the establishment of Declaration of Independence.In addition， American is a nation that values equality.Declaration of Independence announces that“All Men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”The equality is highlighted in the equal rights.The Affirmative action，a product of woman and black movement in the 1990s is also a convincing evidence of progressing equality between different ethnic groups and sex.

To conclude，America is a nation that prizes hard work and amusement，admires self-made man，pursues independence and equality.To communicate with Americans，we English majors should learn their culture embedded in language for language alone is far from sufficient.Besides，every nation has its character which cannot and should not be judged.The communication between nations must be based on mutual respect and understanding.Thus we could avoid culture shock and become more inclusive.

【作者簡介】Xu Jiaqi， North China Electric Power University （Beijing）.