English ECLPE copy 1

      Key unit competence: To use language learnt in the context of Cultural diversity 

                                                  and African development

     INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITY

      Picture interpretation 

         

1. Describe some aspects of the Rwandan culture that you observed in 
     the above pictures.
2. Why do you think it is important to respect every one’s culture?
3. Explain the importance of cultural diversity in someone’s life.
4. Give reasons why people would migrate from a country or city to 

     another.

            6.1 Describing Being in a Foreign Country

      

Text: Stages of culture shock

Culture shock! You are lost, standing confused in a new place, unable to tell left 
from right, up from down, phone booths from waste bins or con-artists from 
friends. But this image of sudden shock isn’t quite right. In reality, culture shock 
is a phenomenon that can take months to develop. Culture shock tends to move 
through four different phases: wonder, frustration, depression, and acceptance. 

The first stage is the wonder phase, also known as the “honeymoon” phase. It’s 
often very positive. You’re fascinated with the language, the people, and the 
food. The trip seems like the greatest thing you’ve ever done. It’s an adventure 
and you enjoy everything! 

The second is a difficult stage of culture shock called frustration, familiar to 
anyone who has lived abroad or travelled for a long time. You don’t understand 
gestures. You get laughed at or you offend a little old lady without knowing why. 
You feel angry often and miss your own culture. 

The worst stage of culture shock is depression. You are homesick and sad all of 
the time. It’s hard to be so far away, especially if you’re all by yourself. It feels like 
nothing will ever be fine again until you return home. The forth is acceptance 
and comes after weeks and months of struggling through a thousand different 
emotions, acceptance finally arrives like a warm bath at the end of a hard day.

Acceptance does not mean total understanding-it’s almost impossible to ever 
completely understand another culture-but involves the realization that you 
don’t have to “get” it all. You find what makes you happy and content in your 

new surroundings.

                   Extracted from English for Rwanda Schools by SDB Publishers

Comprehension questions
1. State the phases that culture shock moves through.
2. Describe the feeling that a person has in the wonder phase.
3. How does a person feel during the frustration phase?
4. What is the feeling of a person who goes through the phase of depression?
5. Prove that acceptance does not mean total understanding in the context 

     of cultural diversity.

              6.1.1 APPLICATION ACTIVITY

           Vocabulary, sentence construction and composition writing

            1. Match the words in the table below with their meanings.

           

         2. Construct one meaningful sentence with each of the words in the 
               above table.
         3. Write 350 word composition on the topic “How to cope with cultural 

               diversity in a new country.”

             6.2 Comparing cultures

                

 In trying to compare cultures one has first to establish some working definition 
of culture. There is a Chinese proverb which says that “the fish did not discover 
water.” Similarly no one discovers culture by staying at home. It so intimately 
shapes our lives that we only become aware of it under special circumstances, 
when we encounter difference. Experiencing culture happens in the pluralism
of cultures. We are not aware of the first until we have experienced the second. 
Culture begins to lose its invisibility when we become aware that there are 
many other ways of fulfilling the basic needs of human lives and of interpreting 
human.

Not only are there different cultures but some are more different than others. 
The profounder the differences encountered in another culture are, the deeper 
the perspective one can gain on his own culture will be. My experience in China 
revealed ways in which my own resembled the European ones I had previously 
found so different. For example, in my own experience I encountered an 
interesting case of cultural differences when I was working on a women’s 
studies project. In the United States feminists were complaining that the 
marriage ceremony discriminated against women because the new couple was 
pronounced man and woman. The women was thereby “denatured” in some 
way by being shifted into a social role whereas the man retained his essential 

and primary identity. 

In France feminists were having similar complaints even though the French 
marriage ceremony pronounces the couple husband and wife. Complaints were 
still abundant, however, this time that the man was being given a full and more 
differentiated social identity whereas the woman was stuck in her original 
natural identity. The obvious point to be made from this comparison was that 
the idea of “nature” is itself not only subject to definition but to value judgments.

Looking back at this after a year in China, I am impressed not only with the 
differences between the French and American women but also with what they 
share when compared to Chinese women. American and French women reveal 
different cultural orientations within western civilization. Both, however, 
have had to fight for their rights whereas in China social legislation of the 
fifties immediately established equality between the sexes. When jobs were 
distributed by the government there was never a question of discrimination 
in employment. In an attempt to overcompensate for past discrimination, 
the government provided maternity benefits for new mothers which are 
very generous with leaves ranging from six months to six years. With such a 
background Chinese women were shocked at certain consequences of those 
recent economic reforms. When obliged to make a profit, work units resisted 
becoming responsible for the cost of having women among their employees.

Both language and culture claim special reality for what they carve out as 
significant, as “natural” even. We become aware of our language when we step 
out of habitual uses for a time, for example, when we study the way others 
use their language. Similarly to become aware of our own culture most readily 
we need to encounter that of someone else. To become aware of what related 
western cultures have in common it is useful to move into radically different 

ones arising in the East.

Adapted from: The Languages of China, Robert Ramsey, 

Princeton University Press, 1987.

           Comprehension questions
1. Approve and explain the saying “no one discovers culture by staying at 
     home.”
2. Explain how feminists in the United States perceived women 
     discrimination.

3. What did feminists in France complain about?

4. How did French and American women come together against Chinese 
      legislation?

5. Do you agree that encountering other cultures makes us aware of our 

      own culture? Justify your answer.

         6.2.2 APPLICATION ACTIVIT

           

              6.3 Describing customs

              

                         Text: Origin and importance of customs

A custom is defined as a cultural idea that describes a regular, patterned way 
of behaving that is considered characteristic of life in a social system. Shaking 
hands, bowing and kissing are all customs: they›re ways of greeting people 
that help to distinguish one society from another. They help maintain social 
harmony and unity within a group. 

Societal customs often start out of habit. A man clasps the hand of another upon 
first greeting him. The other man and others, who are watching, take note. When 
they later meet someone on the street, they extend a hand. After a while, the 
handshaking action becomes habit and takes on a life of its own. It becomes the 
norm to adhere to the custom, and customs are often followed without any real 
understanding of why they exist or how they got started. Customs persist for 
generations, as new members of a society learn about existing customs through 

a process of socialization.

Importantly, different cultures often have different customs: something 
that is an established custom in one society may not be a custom in another 
society. For example, while one of the traditional breakfast foods in the United 
States is cereal, breakfast in other societies might include dishes such as soup 

or vegetables.

Customs exist among all types of societies, including both more industrialized 
and less industrialized societies. Interestingly, their nature doesn’t change 
based on literacy, industrialization or other external factors. They are what 
they are, and they can impact the society they are a part of. They tend to be 
more powerful in less industrialized societies, however. Over time, customs 

become the law of social life. They create and maintain harmony in a society. 

For example, after handshaking becomes a norm, an individual who declines to 
offer his hand upon meeting another may be looked down upon and perceived 

negatively.

Consider what might happen if a whole segment of a population suddenly 
decided to stop shaking hands, assuming that handshaking was a very important 
custom in that society. Animosity might grow between the hand shakers and 
the non-shakers, spreading into other areas. Hand shakers might assume that, 
if the non-shakers won’t shake hands, maybe it’s because they’re unwashed or 
dirty. Or maybe the non-shakers feel that they’re superior and don’t want to 
sully themselves by touching the hands of an inferior person.

Because customs are so important to social harmony, the breaking of a custom 
could theoretically result in an upheaval that has little or nothing to do with the 
custom itself, particularly when the reasons perceived for breaking it have no 

bearing in fact.

Adapted from Customs: Their Importance in Society, by Ashley Crossman, 

Dec, 2018

         Comprehension questions
1. Using suitable examples from the text, define the term custom.
2. Determine the importance of customs in a society.
3. Explain how customs often start and become a law of social life.
4. Show how customs differ from culture to another.
5. Discuss the power of customs in industrialized and less industrialized 
     societies.

6. Assess the impact of breaking a well-established custom in a society.

             6.3.2 APPLICATION ACTIVITY

         Vocabulary, sentence construction and summary writing

1. Find the meanings of the following terms used in the above text
         a) …handshaking… (paragraph 2)
         b) …socialization… (paragraph 2)
         c) …segment… (paragraph 4)
         d) …animosity… (paragraph 4)
         e) …sully… (paragraph 4)
          f) Upheaval… (paragraph 4)
2. Use the above words in grammatically correct sentences.
3. In not more than 60 words, summarize the above passage about the 

     origin and importance of customs.

         6.4 Describing traditional Rwandan Culture

           

                Text: Rwandan Traditions and Culture

In the Rwandan culture, it is considered extremely rude to eat in public. People 
are not supposed to eat on the street, in public transportation, and sometimes 
even during big parties in the presence of strangers. In addition, traditionally 
adults don’t eat in front of their in-laws. In the past, adults could not even eat in 
front of their own children and would often take their food into their bedroom. 
Some men would only eat food cooked by their wives and refuse to eat any food 
cooked by a housekeeper. It was said in the past that women were not supposed 
to eat goat meat, for two reasons: it would make them grow beard, and become 
stubborn. However, it is now believed such assumptions were invented by 

greedy men who wanted all the good meat for themselves. 

Going out to eat at restaurants is actually a fairly new concept that has only 
taken hold with the influence of foreigners. In the recent past, if a man or a 
couple went out to eat, it meant that the wife was a bad cook or that the man 
did not have a wife

at all. Even today, there are many Rwandans who generally do not dine out. 

In the past, it was considered a taboo for in-laws to eat at a married couple’s 
house. It was also taboo for them to stay the night and they would have to find 
another place in the neighborhood to stay. Rwandans say that drinking milk 
makes women beautiful. 

When there is a beautiful woman, Rwandans might say that she must have 
drunk a lot of milk. If you invite someone or even multiple people out to dinner 
or drinks, it is expected that you will pay for them. When Rwandans are served 
a bottle of beer with a glass, they will sometimes pour a few drops into the 
glass, swish the liquid around, and then pour it on the ground behind them. 

This serves two functions: it symbolizes sharing the drink with ancestors and 
also helps clean out the glass. When a guest stops by for a visit to a friend or 
family member, it is expected that the host will offer him or her something to 
drink. The most common drink is Fanta or beer. It is considered very rude to 
offer water, at least not until the guest has finished the first drink. 

When a married couple has children, their names essentially change to reflect 
the identity of their first-born child. For example, if parents are named Joshua 
and Gloria. As soon as they get their first baby-girl and call her Simbi, everyone 
who knows them (friends, family members, community members, neighbours, 
perhaps even colleagues) would start to call them Papa Simbi and Mama Simbi. 

People hence start considering them as having enriched their identity and 
recognition with a family and address. However this practice was borrowed 
from other African Countries such as the Democratic Repuplic of Congo (DRC) 
When a couple is planning a wedding, the man and the woman separately hold 
numerous “planning meetings” at which they meet with their friends and family 
to organize and finalize the details for the marriage.

One of the ways that the family of a bride prepares for a wedding is to plant 
a few banana trees along the road leading to their house. In the past this was 
done to show that the family was relatively wealthy, because it was implied that 

they could also supply their guests with banana beer from their banana trees. 

When a man and a woman share the bed, the man always sleeps on the side of 

door so that he may protect his wife in the case of an intruder or a problem. 

It is considered a serious taboo for an unmarried man to spend the night at 
an unmarried woman’s home. This is part of a larger discussion about gender 
and double standards/disparate access and opportunities: it is not acceptable 
for women to go out dancing without men. If they do so, they will be taken for 

prostitutes. 

It is forbidden for a married person to pronounce the name of his or her mother
in-law or father-in-law. When greeting them or even describing them to others, 
people cannot say their name and have to describe them instead. They cannot 

even share meals. 

If a woman sews at night or in the dark, people will discourage her by saying that 
she is sewing her parents’ eyes shut. This is most likely to prevent women from 
straining their eyes by sewing under faint light. Whistling at night is considered 
a taboo as it is believed to be a way of summoning snakes. It is also a taboo for a 
woman to whistle at any time of the day for she would be considered as male. If 
you have the hiccups, people say that someone is talking about you. When you 

have a twitch on your eye or face, people believe it is a good omen.

                     Extracted from English language, senior 6, by REB

       Comprehension questions 
a. Explain five aspects of the Rwandan culture as discussed in the above 
      passage. 
b. Describe the wedding process in the Rwandan culture as portrayed in the 

      above passage.

          6.4.2 APPLICATION ACTIVITIES
   Vocabulary, sentence construction and summary writing
1. Give the meaning of the following words and expressions as used in 
     the above passage: 
     a. extremely rude 
     b. invented by greedy men 
     c. considered taboo 
     d. to pour 
     e. symbolizes 
      f. to reflect 
     g. a bride 
      h. double standards 
      i. faint light 
      j. a twitch 
2. Use the above words and phrases to construct meaningful sentences 
     as used in the passage.

3. Write an eighty-word paragraph about any other aspect of the 
     Rwandan culture that you know. 

4. Imagine you have a friend from another community where they are 
     not aware of your culture and he would like to come and work for a 
     project in your community. Write a detailed letter to him describing 

     both your traditional culture and modern culture. 

         6.5 Reporting a migration story

        

               Text: A Clash of Cultures

                  

Ms Yusuf is a young Somali woman aged 19 who left Somaliland in late 2017 
following the death of her father. “After my father died I could not find anyone 
who could cater for my needs. In fact, nobody could provide the same support 
to me; so I decided to leave the area.” She travelled on her own to Yemen and 
experienced a very new culture from the time of her arrival. “The culture was 
different from the Somaliland culture I was used to. Someone had to accompany 

me when I wanted to go to the market.”

After a difficult year in Yemen, Ms Yusuf decided to return to Somaliland in 
November 2018. “It is very difficult to start a small business in Yemen as the 
nationals will tell you that they are unemployed, hence how can a foreigner 
make a business in their country? The security also got worse and resulted in 

explosions in Sana, Yemen. You live in fear.

“IOM (International organization for migration) provided me with health 
support and transportation from Yemen and to our final destination in 
Somaliland.” In the future Ms Yusuf hopes to specialize in health and or technical 
skills. She wants other Somalis especially women to know that “life in Yemen is 

very difficult and only housemaid work is available. 

For women it’s very difficult to get out as you risk your life. It’s also difficult to 
use public taxis without anyone accompanying you as they could kidnap you; 

and you may end up being raped-who knows?”

Adapted from https://www.iom.int/migrant-stories/clash-cultures

      Comprehension questions
1. How did Ms. Yussuf find herself in Yemen?
2. Describe the cultural shock that Ms. Yussuf experienced in Yemen
3. Why is it difficult for foreigners to start a business in Yemen?
4. How did the international organization for migration help MsYussuf?
5. What does Yussuf’s plan for the future?

6. What is Yussuf’s advice to her fellow Somalis? 

      6.5.2 APPLICATION ACTIVITIES
        Vocabulary, sentence construction and composition writing
       1. Use the dictionary and thesaurus to find the meanings of the words 

             in the table below

                

        2. Construct one correct sentence with each of the above words.
       3. Write a 300 word composition on the topic “No place is better than 

           home.

             6.6 Describing causes of migration

             

                Text: Factors of migration

               

People migrate for a number of reasons. These reasons may fall under four 
areas that are environmental, economic, cultural and socio-political reasons. 
Within all these, there are some that may be seen as ‘Push’ or ‘Pull’ factors. Push 
factors force individuals to move out voluntarily, and in many cases, they are 
forced because they are risking something if they stay. 

Push factors may include conflict, drought, famine, or religious based 
discrimination. Poor economic activity and lack of job opportunities.

Other strong push factors include race and discriminating cultures, political 
intolerance and persecution. Pull factors are those factors in the destination 
country that attract the individuals or groups to leave their home. Those factors 
are known as place utility, which is the desirability of a place that attracts people. 

Better economic opportunities, more jobs, and the promise of a better life 
often pull people into new locations. Sometimes, individuals have ideas and 
perceptions about places that are not necessarily correct, but are strong pull 
factors for them. As people grow older and retire, many look for places with 
warm weather, peaceful and comfortable locations in order to spend their 

retirement after a lifetime of hard work and savings. 

Such ideal places are pull factors too. Very often, People consider and prefer 
opportunities closer to their locations than similar opportunities farther away. 
In the same spirit, people often like to move to places with better cultural, 
political, climatic and general terrain in closer locations than locations farther 
away. It is rare to find people move over very long distances in order to settle in 
places that they have little knowledge of. 

                 Extracted from English Language, senior 6, by REB

         Comprehension questions 
1. State and explain the reasons why people migrate. 
2. Assume there are migrants who come to your home area. Explain how 

     you would treat them.

    Vocabulary, sentence and essay writing
1. Find the meaning of the following words referring the passage above.
       a. Migrate
       b. Push factor
       c. Political intolerance
       d. Vein
       e. Peaceful and comfortable 
2. Construct meaningful sentences with each of the following words and 
         phrases: 
         a. Migrate 
         b. Push factor 
         c. Political intolerance 
         d. Vein 
         e. Peaceful and comfortable
3. Suppose you experienced a situation involving ‘culture shock’. Write 
     an essay of about 350 words showing the right way of behaving in 

     such a situation.

              6.7 Describing cultural diversity

         

             Text: Importance of culture diversity

Why is cultural diversity a good thing? Culture is the lens with which we 
evaluate everything around us; we evaluate what is proper or improper, normal 
or abnormal.

If we are immersed in a culture that is different from ours, we can experience 
culture shock and become disoriented when we come into contact with a 
fundamentally different culture. People naturally use their own culture as a 
yard stick to judge other cultures. Such judgment could reach to a level whereby 
people tend to discriminate against others whose ways of living are different 
from theirs.

People fear essentially what they don’t understand. Cultural diversity is 
inevitable since in our country, at our workplaces, and schools there exist 
increasingly various cultural, racial, and ethnic groups. We can learn from one 
another, but first we should have a level of understanding about each other in 
order to facilitate collaboration and cooperation.

Learning about other cultures helps us understand different perspectives 
within the world in which we live, and helps dispel negative stereotypes and 
personal biases about different groups.

In addition, cultural diversity can help us recognize and respect “ways of being” 
that are not necessarily our own, so that as we interact with others we can 
build bridges to trust, respect, and have more understanding across cultures. 
Furthermore, this diversity makes our country a more interesting place to live in. 
Indeed, people from diverse cultures contribute to the development of language 
skills, new ways of thinking, new knowledge, and different experiences.

How can you support cultural diversity? You ought to increase your level of 
understanding about other cultures by interacting with people outside your 
own culture. Meaningful relationships may never develop simply due to a lack 
of appreciation of others’ cultural values. You should avoid imposing your own 
values on others as that may conflict or be inconsistent with their beliefs. You 
ought to recognize and understand that concepts such as family ties, gender 
roles, spirituality, and emotional well-being, vary significantly among cultures 

and impact on behavior.

Within the workplace, educational setting, and clinical setting, advocate for 
the use of materials that are representative of the various cultural groups in 
the local community and the society in general. You should intervene in an 
appropriate manner when you observe others engaging in behaviors that show 
cultural insensitivity, bias, or prejudice. You ought to be proactive in listening, 
accepting, and welcoming people and ideas that are different from your own. 

Cultural diversity supports the idea that every person can make a unique and 
positive contribution to the larger society in spite of their differences. Imagine 
a place where diversity is recognized and respected; various cultural ideas 
are acknowledged and valued; contributions from all groups are encouraged; 
people are empowered to achieve their full potential; and differences are 

celebrated! 

      Extracted from English language, Senior six student book, 

      by Rwanda Education Board.

       Comprehension questions 
1. Discuss the dangers of judging other people on the basis of your own 
     culture. 
2. Basing on the above text, tell how cultural diversity can improve 
     someone’s life perspectives? 
3. How did the writer advise people who do different activities (restaurant, 

     hotels,) in terms of cultural diversity?

      6.7.2 APPLICATION ACTIVITIES
    Vocabulary, debate, sentence and essay writing 
1. Use a dictionary, a thesaurus or internet to find the meanings of the 
     following words as used in the passage. 
        a. yard stick
        b. diversity
        c. family ties
        d. proactive
        e. bias
         f. prejudice
2. Construct different meaningful sentences using the above words and 
     phrases from the 
     passage.
3. Debate on this motion “Cultural Diversity is a blessing, not a loss of 
     one’s identity”. 

4. Write an essay talking about the importance of cultural diversity

          6.8 Describing cultural general challenges

         

                 Text: Cultural clash in expectations

Gabriela worked for a multinational company as a successful project manager 
in Brazil and was transferred to manage a team in Sweden. She was excited 
about her new role but soon realized that managing her new team would be a 
challenge.

Despite their friendliness, Gabriela didn’t feel respected as a leader. Her new 
staff would question her proposals openly in meetings, and when she gave 
them instructions on how to carry out a task, they would often go about it in 
their own way without checking with her. When she announced her decisions 
on the project, they would continue giving their opinions as if it was still up for 
discussion. After weeks of frustration, Gabriela emailed her Swedish manager 
about the issues she was facing with her team. Her manager simply asked her 
if she felt her team was still performing, and what she thought would help her 
better collaborate with her team members. Gabriela found her manager vague 

and didn’t feel as if he was managing the situation satisfactorily.

What Gabriela was experiencing was a cultural clash in expectations. She was 
used to a more hierarchical framework where the team leader and manager 
took control and gave specific instructions on how things were to be done. This 
more directive management style worked well for her and her team in Brazil 
but did not transfer well to her new team in Sweden, who were more used to a 
flatter hierarchy where decision making was more democratic. When Gabriela 
took the issue to her Swedish manager, rather than stepping in with directions 
about what to do, her manager took on the role of coach and focused on getting 
her to come up with her own solutions instead.

Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede uses the concept of ‘power distance’ to 
describe how power is distributed and how hierarchy is perceived in different 
cultures. In her previous work environment, Gabriela was used to a high power 
distance culture where power and authority are respected and everyone has 
their rightful place. In such a culture, leaders make the big decisions and are 
not often challenged. Her Swedish team, however, were used to working in a 
low power distance culture where subordinates often work together with their 
bosses to find solutions and make decisions. Here, leaders act as coaches or 
mentors who encourage independent thought and expect to be challenged.

When Gabriela became aware of the cultural differences between her and her 
team, she took the initiative to have an open conversation with them about their 
feelings about her leadership. Pleased to be asked for their thoughts, Gabriela’s 
team openly expressed that they were not used to being told what to do. They 
enjoyed having more room for initiative and creative freedom. When she told 
her team exactly what she needed them to do, they felt that she didn’t trust 
them to do their job well. They realised that Gabriela was taking it personally 
when they tried to challenge or make changes to her decisions, and were able 

to explain that it was how they’d always worked.

With a better understanding of the underlying reasons behind each other’s 
behaviour, Gabriela and her team were able to adapt their way of working. 
Gabriela was then able to make adjustments to her management style so as to 
better fit the expectations of her team and more effectively motivate her team 

to achieve their goals.

Extracted from https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/upper

intermediate-b2/cultural-expectations-and-leadership

       Comprehension questions
1. Why did Gabriella feel disrespected?
2. How did Gabriella’s Swedish manager react when she informed him 
    about her frustration?
3. Explain how Gabriella experienced culture clash against her 
     expectations.
4. Contrast Gabriella’s work environment in Brazil and Sweden.
5. What did Gabriella do when she became aware of the cultural differences 
      between her and her new team?
6. Assess Gabriella’s initiative result.
7. Examine the advantage of understanding better the underlying reasons 

     behind each other’s behavior.

      6.8.2 APPLICATION ACTIVITY
     Vocabulary, sentence construction, summary writing and research.
1. Use a dictionary or a thesaurus to find the meanings of the words and 

      in the table bellow

         

             6.9 Key Rwandan Values

         

             Text: Celebrating Rwanda’s Cultural Values

           

The national harvest day was an event that came second to the enthronization
of a new king. “Umuganura”-literally “Thanks Giving day” was performed by 
Rwandans at the beginning of every harvest. It was a very big event in the 
kingdom as Rwandans celebrated the achievements in terms of harvest both at 
the kingdom and family level.

The trace for this event, when exactly it was first celebrated remains evasive; 
no exact date is pronounced as to when this event could have been introduced 
in Rwanda. But research in this field connects it with the introduction of 
agriculture in Rwanda during the 3rd century.

In the beginning of the celebration of ‘Umuganura’ Rwandans focused mainly 
on staple foods like sorghum and finger millet. From history, the celebration 
of ‘Umuganura’ used to be a unifying factor for all Rwandans through acts of 
sharing what they had produced either at the family level, in the village or 
as a kingdom. The rich and the poor, the higher and middle families all came 
together and shared what they had without exclusion as a form of promoting 

Rwandan cultural values.

As a form of preserving Rwandan Culture, the celebration of ‘Umuganura’ educates 
the young generation on the value and power of safeguarding the past legacy
for edutainment purposes. At the heart of every Rwandan in and outside the 
country, the event helps raise awareness among Rwandans, friends of Rwanda 
and policy makers on how the ‘Umuganura’ celebration was a very significant 
part in creating unity in diversity. This kind of tradition in Rwanda always brings 
to view the past with the positive cultural values that we can use to build, unite 

and reconcile Rwanda as a nation.

Adapted from TheNewTimeshttps://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/202421

     Comprehension questions
1. Describe the national harvest day in the history of Rwanda.
2. Explain how the harvest day plays a unifying role for all Rwandans.
3. Assess the contribution of the harvest day for preserving the Rwandan 
    culture.
4. How can cultural values brought in your mind by the harvest day be used 

     to build Rwanda as a nation?

        6.9.2 APPLICATION ACTIVITY
     Vocabulary and sentence writing and research
1. Use a dictionary or thesaurus to find the meanings of the following 
     words.
         a) …enthronization… (paragraph 1)
         b) …evasive… (paragraph 2)
         c) …staple food… (paragraph 3)
         d) …unifying… (paragraph 3)
         e) …safeguarding… (paragraph 4)
          f) …legacy… (paragraph 4)

         g) …edutainment… (paragraph 4)

2. Construct one correct sentence with each of the above words.
3. Conduct a research on Rwanda cultural values and their contribution for 

      unifying Rwandans.

        6.10 Language structure: Adverbs of time and adverbs of 

                   place 

  Notes

  I. Adverbs of time

Adverbs of time modify the meaning of a sentence by telling us when, for how 
long, an action happens. Many adverbs of time are the same as adverbs of 
frequency. There is quite a bit of overlap between these two types of adverbs.
Here are some examples of adverbs of time:
      • yesterday
      • today
      • tomorrow
      • later
      • now
      • last year
      • since 1999/Monday/3 o’clock etc.,
      • all day/month/week etc.,
      • for a week/a year/a 100 years etc.,

Adverbs of time tell us when an action happened, but also for how long, and 
how often. Some adverbs tell us how often express the exact number of times 
an action happens or happened. These adverbs are usually placed at the end of 
the sentence. Many adverbs that express frequency can also be placed at either 
the beginning or the end of the sentence.

Yet is used in questions and in negative sentences to indicate that something 
that has not happened or may not have happened but is expected to happen. 
It is placed at the end of the sentence or after not. Still expresses continuity. In 
positive sentences it is placed before the main verb and after auxiliary verbs 
such as be, have, might, will. If the main verb is to be, then place still after it 

rather than before. In questions, still goes before the main verb.

    Examples:

     a. We are going to church on Sunday for prayer but we fear that we don’t 
         know their culture.
    b. She is going to have a baby soon being in a foreign country.
    c. My father went to Chile last year for a vacation.
    d. We eventually went to a pub after eating.
    e. He has already been to Canada three times but he does not know their 
        customs.

    II. Adverbs of place
Adverbs of place tell us about an aspect of location associated with the action of 
a verb, specifying the direction, distance, movement, or position involved in the 
action. They are specific to actions of verbs and they cannot be used to modify 
adverbs or adjectives.

Simple rules for adverbs of place:
      • An adverb of place always expresses about the location where the 
              action of the verb is being carried out.
      • Adverbs of place can be directional. For example: Up, down, north, 
           around, southwest, away
      • Adverbs of place can denote distances. For example: Nearby, far away, 
         miles apart
     • Many adverbs of place specify movement in a specific direction and 
        end in the letters “-ward or -wards”. For example: Toward, forward, 
         backward, homeward, westward, eastwards onwards
    • An adverb of place can point out an object’s position in relation to 
      another object. For example: Below, between, above, behind, through, 
      around and so forth.
As far as the position of adverbs of place in a sentence is concerned, adverbs 
of place generally appear immediately after the main verb in a sentence if it 

is intransitive, or else after the verb’s object if it is transitive. 

For example:
a. We were walking north. (intransitive—adverb follows the verb)
b. He kicked the ball into the field. (transitive—adverb follows the object)
N.B. We can use prepositions to talk about:

1. Places or locations.
Examples:
a. He was standing by the pool.
b. You’ll find it in the lobby.
c. Sign your name here, at the end of the page.
d. The compartment door is very small so it’s difficult to get into it.

2. Direction
  Examples:
a. Walk past the bank and keep going to the end of the highway.
b. We were in London. Birmingham was 250 kilometres away.

 3. Distance
   Examples:
     a. Birmingham is 250 kilometers from London.
     b. He is sitting at a hundred meters from his house.
Exercises
I. Choose the best answer to complete each of these sentences.
1. Close the door when you go ___________.
2. The baby is hiding down there under the table.
3. The cat is hiding_______________ the couch.
4. Will you be starting your plants ________________ or in a greenhouse?
5. The ship sailed _______________, encountering heavy weather along the way.
6. When she saw me waiting, she ran __________________ me.
7. __________________ you live, I will come to that place to live.
8. He led the caravan, __________________ he wanted to go.
9. What are you doing _________there?
10. ________________we went, people greeted us warmly as they do it in their 
culture.
II. Write a paragraph using adverbs of time, place and comparison of adjectives 

     talking about cultural diversity.

        6.11 END UNIT ASSESSMENT 
I. Complete the sentences, using the positive, comparative and 
    superlative of the adjectives in brackets.
1. Jane’s culture is ………………….. than mine. (good)
2. I think living in your country is ……………….. than living in foreign 
     countries. (happy)
3. He thinks this test was …………….. than the last one. (difficult)
4. They live in a really ……………….. house. (beautiful)
5. She is the ………………. tennis player of the world. (good)
6. Susan is a …………….. girl. She’s much ……………….. than her sister. 
(nice / nice)
7. My aunt’s customs are ……………. than ours. (adaptable)
8. Hotels in London are …………….. than in Vienna. (expensive)
9. Bob is ………….. than Keith but Philip is the …………… (tall / tall)
II. Construct grammatically correct sentences with the following words
1. Tolerated
2. Cultural diversity
3. Belief
4. Customs
5. Immigrant

III. Write an essay describing the importance of cultural diversity.