Cultural Issues and Values
Cultural Concepts Challenge
Match each concept with its correct definition by dragging and dropping.
Definitionsالتعاريف
Vocabulary Center
Practice 1: Word Formation
Write the correct noun form for each word.
| Word | Noun |
|---|---|
| 1. tolerant | |
| 2. cooperate | |
| 3. generous | |
| 4. responsible | |
| 5. honest |
Practice 2: Choose the Correct Form
Click on the bracketed word and choose the correct form to complete the sentences.
1. Moroccan people usually (celebration) different (culture) events.
2. In wedding parties, women wear (tradition) clothes like caftans.
3. We are known for our (generous) and (hospitable) nature worldwide.
4. Hundreds of tourists are (interest) in discovering our culture.
5. Marriage is tightly based on (responsible), (honest), and (tolerate).
Reading Text
[1] Touria returned to Morocco together with her French spouseزوج Michel and their one-year old child. She wanted to introduceتقدم her husband to her family and celebrate their marriage in the Moroccan way. She is just one of a growing number of Moroccan women deciding to marry men from other backgroundsخلفيات and traditions.
[2] "Michel, now named Mehdi, is a friendly person. He tries to understand our traditions and social habits," she said. Her husband agrees to raise their child in accordance withوفقا لـ traditional Moroccan values while she respects his French rootsجذور. Although Touria's mother accepted the marriage, she is worried aboutقلقة بشأن the success of the relationship because of cultural differencesالاختلافات الثقافية. According to her, marrying a foreignerأجنبي would only cause problems, especially if there was lack of understanding.
[3] According to a recent studyدراسة conducted by the Ministry of Justice, the number of Moroccan women who married foreigners increasedازداد from 2,507 in 2001 to 5,664 in 2009. Meanwhileفي هذه الأثناء, the number of Moroccan men who married foreigners roseارتفع from 1,366 in 2001 to 4,320 in 2009.
[4] Meriem, another Moroccan woman who is married to a Spanish man, said: "My marriage took place by chanceبالصدفة. I went to a friend's house on a weekend where I met Pedro. My father insisted on testingأصر على اختباره him for a month; so we invited him over to our house in Morocco. My father told him about the traditions of our society, family habits and the teachingsتعاليم of our religion. My husband accepted all that with an open heartبقلب منفتح."
[5] Mustafa al-Ashhab, a lawyer, said: "Girls looking for opportunities to emigrateيهاجرن often choose to marry foreigners. Similarlyبالمثل, young men, looking for moral or financial support while living in a foreign country, get married to women in that country". Yet, such mixed marriagesالزيجات المختلطة often affect children's identity and psychological stabilityالاستقرار النفسي.
[6] Jamal Al-Zayadi, a sociologist, believesيعتقد that although spouses may have a good relationship with each other, children born to mixed marriages will still face problems. "They are foreigners when they come to Morocco, and they are Moroccans when they go to a foreign country despite the legal residence they have in that country," Al-Zayadi explains. Consequentlyنتيجة لذلك, they feel that they are marginalisedمهمشون, and this creates more problems for them and their parents. Fortunatelyلحسن الحظ, a new citizenship law has given mothers the right to pass their Moroccan citizenship on to their children of foreign husbands.
Guided Comprehension
A. Are these sentences True or False? Justify.
1. When Touria returned to Morocco, she was not married to Michel yet.
2. Touria can raise her child according to Moroccan values.
3. Children born to mixed marriages have no identity problems.
B. Answer these questions.
1. Why is Touria's mother not sure about the success of her daughter's marriage?
2. Where did Meriem meet Pedro?
3. What do statistics show about the number of Moroccan men marrying foreigners?
C. Complete the following sentences.
1. Meriem's family invited Pedro to their house because .
2. Young men living in a foreign country marry women there in order to .
3. An advantage of the new citizenship law is .
D. Find words that mean the same as:
1. husband (paragraph 1):
2. origins (paragraph 2):
3. thinks (paragraph 6):
E. What do the underlined words refer to?
1. her (paragraph 2):
2. him (paragraph 4):
3. they (paragraph 6):
Writing Workshopورشة الكتابة: My Culture's Values
Use the workshop below to write a short paragraph about the values of your culture.