❖ Unit 6 ❖ Culture ❖ Vocabulary ❖

Culture Vocabulary

Words about cultural values, traditions, coexistence, hospitality, plus collocations and word families.

Core vocabulary — definitions

Word	Definition
culture	The way of life — especially customs and beliefs — of a group of people.
altruism	Selflessness, kindness, generosity.
stereotype	A fixed image, usually wrong or exaggerated, about a group of people.
initiative	The ability to act before others.
tolerance	The ability to accept and respect the opinions and beliefs of others.
values	The beliefs and principles people think are important in life.
coexistence	The ability to live together in peace and harmony.
cooperation	The act of participating with others and working together.
equity	Equal treatment for everyone.
hospitality	The act of welcoming and entertaining guests warmly.
generosity	The quality of being willing to give freely.
diversity	The state of being different (cultural, ethnic, linguistic).

Collocations

culture shock — feeling of confusion when entering a new culture
civic education — teaching about citizenship and rights
deeply rooted (traditions, values)
moral obligations — duties one has toward society
table manners — rules of politeness at meals
common good — the benefit of the community as a whole
universal values — values shared by all humanity
cultural heritage · cultural identity
cultural diversity · cross-cultural communication

Word families

Verb	Noun
tolerate	tolerance
celebrate	celebration
coexist	coexistence
differ	difference
cooperate	cooperation
globalise	globalisation

Noun	Adjective
hospitality	hospitable
altruism	altruistic
obligation	obligatory
generosity	generous
culture	cultural
art	artistic

Practice 1 — Fill in

Complete with words from the definitions

Saying that all women are talkative is an example of stereotype.
"Couscous" and "the Kaftan" are part of the Moroccan culture.
The National Initiative for Human Development has made a great change in our country.
Hospitality is a cultural value which is very common among Moroccans.
Fighting corruption needs a big cooperation between the government and the population.

Practice 2 — Fill in the collocations

Use the right collocation

Civic education is concerned with educating children on the love of their country.
A good citizen always works for the common good of his community.
We have to accomplish moral obligations before we ask for our rights.
Tolerance and coexistence are examples of universal values.
A person may experience culture shock when he moves to another country.

Practice 3 — Word formation

Correct form

The Moroccans are known for their (generous) generosity when they have guests.
The festival of (tolerate) tolerance is organised in Agadir every year.
The (culture) cultural diversity makes Morocco a beautiful country.
Every country has its own (tradition) traditional food and clothing.
Aichoura is a (celebrate) celebration in which people throw water and eggs on each other.
Giving something although you need it is an (altruism) altruistic act.
Many cultures have changed a lot due to (global) globalisation.

❖ Key Takeaways ❖

① Cultural values

Tolerance, coexistence, cooperation, hospitality, generosity — values that bridge cultures.

② Cultural identity

Culture, traditions, customs, beliefs, heritage form a society's identity.

③ Negative phenomena

Stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, culture shock — important to know for argumentative writing.

❖ Exam tip

Culture vocabulary is essential for the "argumentative essay" writing task. Memorise the abstract nouns (tolerance, diversity, identity) and their adjectives.