Multicultural society

Multicultural society is a society where people of

different races, cultures and traditions live side by side
with a mutual respect. Multiculturalism is beneficial to
a society, because it consists of people from different
ethnic backgrounds, cultures and religions living and
working together we talk about a cultural diversity.

Advantages / pros
When people learn about different ways of life:
it helps to break down barriers between ethnic
groups which are caused by ignorance. Human
beings have a tendency to be suspicious of cultures
they do not understand.
Living with different cultures brings a better
understanding of other cultures, enrich
our lives and helps to encourage
tolerance.

Disadvantages/cons
One of the negatives is that cultural differences can
divide a society. This can lead to prejudice and
discrimination towards minorities
There will always be people who think that their
religion and culture is superior and right and that
other beliefs and cultures are inferior and wrong
(rasists)
These people try to blame ethnic minorities for
social and economic problems even when it is not
true.
Because of different opinions there sometimes occur
lots of riots, e.g. in London last year
Racism is sometimes a problem of multicultural

Multicultural education
Multicultural education aims to prepare
children for living in a multicultural
society.
Its major aim is to create equal
educational opportunities for students from different
racial, ethnic and cultural groups and to help all
students to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills
needed to function effectively in a pluralistic
democratic society and to interact and communicate
with peoples from diverse groups.

Multiculturalism in Slovakia
In Slovakia people are not used to people of
different races and cultures, because until
1989 we were not an open society. However,
some students from African countries studied
at universities. Nowadays, many foreigners
with their customs and very different cultural
backgrounds are coming to our country and
we are getting used to the idea that it is normal
that people are of different skin colour and
beliefs.

 It could be quite beneficial for us because we

learn something about other customs and
traditions and we can share our culture with
others. We are becoming more tolerant if we
experience living in mixed society.
Apart from the Slovak majority, the territory is
inhabited by over half a million Hungarians in
the south of Slovakia, along with smaller groups
like the Ruthenians in the east - minorities

Gypsies / Romanies
One minority without a territory are the Romany. A
rapidly rising birth rate among the Romany means an
increasingly important issue in Slovak politics and
Slovakia is working hard to integrate them into society.
At present the country faces the problem of
Vietnamese guest workers and helps the refugees
from Albania, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Ukraine to
continue their immigration process in newly built
asylum houses.
A new phenomenon has appeared in Slovak
traditions. More and more women are getting married
to men of different religion and skin colour. There is
still a certain amount of prejudice, but most young
people are tolerant, without any prejudice.

Cosmopolitan countries and cities

BRITAIN
Britain is and has always been a mixed race society.
During the past centuries many different races have settled in
Britain from different reasons, e.f. Africans were brought by
force to the country as slaves and servants, later refugees from
France, Ireland or Russia tried to escape from persecusion or
find a better way of life.Then there live people from the former
British colonies. ( India, Pakistan, Bangladesh).Later people
from Eastern Europe arrived in Britain because of job
opportunities.
People moving to Britain brought their own cultures and they
still try to keep them alive. An exellent example of this is the
Nothing Hill Carnival which celebrates the Caribbean Culture
and is a part of the British life, too

The Notting Hill Carnival is an annual event which since 1964 has
taken place on the streets of Notting Hill in London, each August, over
two days.

NEW YORK
New York is as cosmopolitan as London but is not as
mixed. Nationalities stay in their own areas, like the
Russians in the Russian section, the Germans in the
German section. Polish people settled down in a
cosmopolitan district of Chicago.
The area of a city where many Chinese people live
and where you can find many Chinese shops and
restaurants is called Chinatown. People go there
because of its special atmosphere, good
restaurants and shops selling cheap
Chinese souvenirs and knick knacks.

Vocabulary
race, colour of someones skin, whites, blacks, Afro-American,
Native American
ethnic group, ethnic divisions, ethnic unrest, ethnic violence
racial conflict, racial prejudice, racial harmony, racial tension,
racism, racist, race riots, fight the police, throw rocks, firebombs, smash windows, prejudice,
integration, integrated society, segregation, segregated
schools/restaurants
multicultural, multiracial, interracial, cosmopolitan
society/district/city, mixed marriage/parentage/ origin
(in)/tolerance, understanding, acceptance, co-existance,
cooperation
assimilation, immigration, controversial, individuality
arranged marriage, wedding, couple, church, registry office,
marital status
equality, partnership, confidence, faithfulness, responsibility,
reliability
refugee, immigrant, flee the country, seek asylum

 stir up = rozvri, vyvola

clamp down on = zakza, zakroi
proti
hatred = nenvis
diverse = rozmanit, rznorod
enhance = zvi hodnotu
woeful = poutovaniahodn
nasty = nebezpen
influx = prliv
label = oznai
accusation = obvinenie
generosity = vekorysos
to be ashamed = hanbi sa
to be proud of = by pyn
watershed = predel
baffling = zavdzajci
flee/fled/fled = utiec
touch = dosiahnutie
bogus = falon, predstieran
stifle = utlmi, potlaova
dare = odvi sa
vanish = zmizn, strati sa
rostrum = tribna
insult = ura
befriend = chova sa k niekomu
priatesky

disapproval = neshlas
clash = konflikt, zrka
fortune teller = vetec
ignorance = nevedomos
object = namieta
provision = poskytnutie
refugee = uteenec
tension = naptie
unremarkable = nepozoruhodn
blame = vini, obviova
diverse = rznorod
emphasize = zdrazni
grumble = omra, nahnevano sa
saova
promote = presadzova,
podporova
recess = prestvka
rootedness = zakorenenos,
pevnos
subconscious = podvedom
suspicious of = by podozrievav
underprivileged = neplnoprvny,
socilne ukrivden, chudobn
wilderness = divoina, div prroda