Cultural Divesity

 What is cultural diversity? 

Cultural diversity is where a society or group is made up of many different people. These people are from different countries, races and religions, and have different interests, skills and beliefs. Seven important actions involved in the definition of multiculturalism:

• recognition of the abundant diversity of cultures;
• respect for the differences;
• acknowledging the validity of different cultural expressions and contributions;
• valuing what other cultures offer;
• encouraging the contribution of diverse groups;
• empowering people to strengthen themselves and others to achieve their maximum potential by being critical of their own biases; and
• celebrating rather than just tolerating the differences in order to bring about unity through diversity.

Why is it important? 

Multiculturalism has many benefits. The main one is that it encourages open-mindedness amongst different groups of people and it dispels negative stereotypes. This is extremely important as the UN reported that 1/3 of the world’s major conflicts have a cultural dimension to them.

Not only does cultural diversity promote peace, but it also makes our society a more interesting place to live. Different cultures have their own beliefs and interests which they can share to offer alternative ways of doing things. People from different cultures can give us different insights into food, language, music, arts & literature, history, religion and more.

Video about what cultural diversity is and why it is important in today’s society.

For more information about cultural diversity please visit un.org/en/observances/cultural-diversity-day 

Use of English. Exercises:

Read the sentences below and match the underlined words to their definitions: 

1. I’m in the mood for something spicy. I fancy an Indian meal. 

2. Many people are able to converse in more than one language. 

3. The new report will downplay the seriousness of global warming. 

4. George knows how to cook. His culinary skills are excellent. 

5. China has a vast population. 

6. She sent her son to a private school because of its prestige. 

a. feel like

b. make something appear less important than it really is 

c. related to cooking 

d. respect and admiration that someone or something gets for being successful or important 

e. talk 

f. very large 

Read the article on the next page and find out the following information: In numbers:

1. the number of different languages spoken in Manchester 

2. the population of Manchester 

3. the number of young people who are able to speak more than one language 

4. the growth in Manchester’s population between 2001 and 2011 

5. the number of children who arrive in Manchester every year

Games:

https://frommanylands.com/activities/board-game-world-languages 

https://frommanylands.com/activities/board-game-folk-dance-around-the-world

https://frommanylands.com/activities/matching-where-do-i-live-game