Tag Archives: Neighborhood

1. INVESTIGATE YOUR NEW NEIGHBORHOOD

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What do you see out your front door?
A road? Fields? Mountains? Another house?
Does your house have a front yard? What is it like?

Take a walk around your neighborhood

Is your neighborhood residential? commercial? a combination of the two?
How would you describe the types of buildings? Apartment buildings, homes, store fronts?
Does any particular building seem to stand out? If so, why?
How far do you have to walk to the market? to church? to the next door neighbor’s house?
Are there trees, flowers along the street? in peoples’ yards?
Do you have to walk on the street? or is there a walkway of some kind?
Are others outside walking? Are there animals around? Are children playing outside?
Note activities which are performed and who is doing them. Note the time when you make these observations.

When you return home:

Make a rudimentary map of your neighborhood and label the buildings and streets as far as you can. You will continue to build on this in the following assignments.

2. DESCRIBE YOUR TOWN/CITY

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General:

How far is the next town or village from yours? How far is it to the nearest large commercial center?

Get to a main crossroads area of your neighborhood

Describe the type of buildings: height, size, type of roofing, building material, windows, decorative features.
Where are main buildings located? post office? government buildings? banks? schools?
Is there a central plaza or green area? Are there green areas throughout the town? If so, what plants or trees are there? How do people seem to use these areas?

What kind of transport seems to be available?

How do people get to your town? Location of train or bus stations, airport, car parking
How do people get around town? bus service, taxis, private car, walking, bicycles? Are there street signs? Other directional signs? In which language(s) are they written?

Note the location of major and minor roadways, of walkways, of possible shortcuts

When you return home:

Add any new information to your map

3. A CLOSER LOOK AT YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

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Look at how space is used in your neighborhood

How much space is there between buildings?
Do buildings usually face in a certain direction?
How are boundary lines designated?
Is there a fence around the yard? Is it a gated area? If so, how is an outsider admitted inside?
What types of out-buildings (garages, storage sheds, granaries, barns, chicken coops, toilets, etc.) do you see and where are they located in relation to the house?
Are there different out-buildings in an apartment setting?
Are other buildings located near homes or apartments? What are they used for?
Does it appear that some kind of building code is observed? Explain.
Are there places where people sit around to talk? What might this tell you when you try to make friends with your neighbors?
Are there empty spaces between houses or shops? How are they used? Are they clean?
What other space is used besides what you see on ground level? the roof? stair wells?

Communal space

Is there a central well, pump, or faucet where people draw water?
If you noticed a central green area, how is this used? by whom? At what time of the day, week, or month? Is it more busy some times than at other times?
How much of the space in front of a house or shop is maintained by the occupant of that building? Are there things in that space that declare ownership?
Is there any other use of space that you can see at this point, as a special place for butchers to slaughter animals, for traveling entertainers to set up their tents, or for itinerant salespeople to set up their wares?

18. GETTING WORK DONE

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What things have you observed around the house and neighborhood that help the residents accomplish tasks? Find out what they are called and what they are used for (e.g., field or garden work, food preparation, weaving, hunting, home maintenance, car repairs)? Note especially tools which are new to you.

Who uses what tools when? Are there role expectations or restrictions on which sex uses which tools?

Try to use some which are appropriate to your sex and role. Are they easy to use? Mimic the instructions people give you while you are using the tools.

Are the tools bought commercially or home-made? Are some of them used for a quick job and thrown away? or are some of them permanent items? When they break, who fixes them?

Are there specialists available for certain jobs? What jobs do they do? Where are they located? How are they repaid for their labor? How is the price negotiated and by whom?

Do they only work in their store or shop, or will they come to the home to do work that is needed? How are they contracted? Who does the negotiations? What else needs to be negotiated besides the price?

Is there a period of time in the day when work is not usually done, as a “rest” time? What is the expectation of the local people? How graciously do they respond to an interruption? Would the request be acted on at that time, or put off to after the “rest period?”

19. ACTIVITIES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

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Take a walk down the street and take note of what you see people doing (children going to school or playing, women shopping, someone cleaning the street, people going to work or sitting in the sunshine, shopkeepers selling their wares, craftsmen doing their work, etc.) Other possibilities may be house building, rope making, car repair, blacksmithing, office work, beggars, or musicians. Take pictures if appropriate and use them as conversation triggers with your language helper.

Where are the activities taking place? in or by a home? in an office? in a store? on the street?

Are certain activities done by people generally (e.g., window shopping), by recognized craftsmen (e.g., blacksmith, shoemaker, silversmith), restricted by sex (e.g., embroidery, knitting), limited to a specific area (e.g., working with wool or with cotton, styles of caps), or to a certain season (grass cutting, tapping trees for resin, shoveling snow)?

Are any finished products for sale? For personal pleasure or for the benefit of others? Is the activity essentially individual or cooperative? If the latter, who does what? Is food or payment provided for workers or helpers? Try to join in one or another of the activities and tell about your experience. Note the people’s reaction and their instructions to you.

31. DOMESTICATED ANIMALS

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What animals do you see in your neighborhood? Are they free-roaming or tied to a hitching post in front of the owner’s home? Are they confined to a fenced-in pasture or a front yard? How do the people treat these animals (if they appear to own them, if they see them on the street, if they feel threatened by them?)

Are any animals kept as pets? Is this a wide-spread practice? What kind of animals are kept and for what purpose? How are they cared for? Are they shown warmth or affection? Are they given names? How are pet animals obtained? Are wild animals or birds ever tamed for pets?

If animals are kept as pets, are there any codes which owners should observe, as picking up after the pet, keeping them quiet, keeping them confined to certain locations, etc.?

Are dogs kept as pets or for some other purpose? Would every household have at least one dog?

Are certain animals or fowl status symbols? Are any of the animals involved in any kind of religious, local or national ceremonies? Are any of them used as icons for tribes, sports, or institutions?

What domestic animals are raised and for what purpose? How much do people pay for them? sell them for? Are any animals put out for hire? For what purpose? At what price? Whose job is it to care for the domestic animals? At what time of the day?

36. RULES OF HOSPITALITY AND VISITING

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What patterns of visiting do you observe in the village or around your neighborhood? When do people generally visit each other (time of day, slack times in the year, special occasions, etc.)? Which people tend to visit each other often? Are they friends, neighbors, relatives? Do they give prior notice before visiting?

Do people visit from out-of-town? Are they friends, relatives, strangers? Are they people of the same ethnic group? Do they give prior notice of their arrival? How often do they come? What do they come for (business, social call, visit a sick person, attend a ceremony, etc.)? How long do they stay? Do they bring their own bedding or food, or is it the duty of the host to provide those?

What is the host’s responsibility to visitors? Is there a difference if the visitor is a close friend or relative in the same village, a friend or relative from another village, a stranger of the same ethnic group, a stranger from a different ethnic group, a person with status no matter where he is from, a woman, etc.?

Looking at these same categories, what is expected of each type of visitor? Should he/she bring a hostess gift? If so, what kind is acceptable? Are these gifts given in kind (same kind of gift you received)?

What words of welcome are used? What are the first topics talked about with visitors? Is this dependent on the reason for the visit (funeral, illness, etc.)? How does a host indicate to a visitor that he is not welcome or that it is time for him to leave? How does the visitor indicate that he/she is ready to leave? Are there certain actions that indicate the termination of a visit?

How soon after arrival is something to eat or drink served? Are visitors ever left alone, or is there always a family member present?

37. KINSHIP AND WHAT IT MEANS

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Make a chart of your own family tree and ask your language helper to help you put the kinship terms for each in your new language. Ask your helper to do the same for his/her family. Compare the charts. Make a combined chart, filling in the spaces from your two charts. Are there still relationships you do not have a kinship term for? Have your helper assist you to name those.

Ask three separate families or households near where you live about their families. Do some of their close relations live in the immediate neighborhood? How far do members of their families live? Are some still in a rural situation and supply milk, grain, vegetables to the family in town? Why have some chosen to live close together and others further away? How often and under what conditions do relatives come to visit? Are some of these visits obligatory?

What obligations do family members have toward the benefit of the whole? Which relatives help with work projects? Which family members borrow from and lend to each other? Who is called on to assist in raising orphans or caring for the elderly? Which are expected to help in case of illness? Who is responsible for making wedding and funeral arrangements? Who carries out ritual obligations for the family?

Who is considered the head (patriarch, primary decision maker, etc.) of the family. Does the oldest son automatically step into this position? At what point in time does this transfer occur (at the death of the patriarch, when the son reaches a certain age, etc.)? To whom and in what proportions does property pass as inheritance? Who controls the money in the family? How is it distributed? In any of the above, what part do women play?

Under what circumstances would a family member be avoided or thought ill of?

What is the status of daughters-in-law? the mother-in-law? girls over boys?

What is the cultural attitude toward adoption? Is it widely practiced within the culture? If so, who holds priority for adopting a child, as an orphan? Do adopted children have the same rights as children born into the family? What is the attitude toward foreigners adopting out of the culture?

Look further in your neighborhood and check if the three families you have studied are typical of the area. How are the households in the neighborhood related? Is there any pattern to the location of related households in the village or town? In what other villages do households have relatives?

40. LIFE CYCLE: BIRTH

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Are there local midwives? Are they trained? If not, how do they get their knowledge? Are they contracted beforehand to be on hand for the delivery? How much do they get paid for a successful delivery? for an unsuccessful one? How long after the delivery do they care for the mother? What are their services? What must the mother do after childbirth?

Where and how is the baby delivered? Who may be present? Who is in charge of the event? Who cuts the cord? How? What is done with the afterbirth? What must be done for the child physically and ritually? Who does this?

What is the father’s role before, during, and after the birth? At what point does he see the baby? Who announces the birth to the rest of the family? to the community? How is this done?

What is the meaning attached to events occurring at the birth of a child (guests present, cord around the baby’s neck, etc.)? What is done in the case of twins? What practices and beliefs are associated with death in childbirth?

Is the birth of a child, whether boy or girl, a time of rejoicing? Are gifts given in either case? To whom?

What religious or folk customs are observed at birth, as baptisms, charms, circumcision, etc.?

41. LIFE CYCLE: CHILD REARING

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When is a child considered to be a real person (from birth? by some physical change? by attaining a certain age? at a naming ceremony?) How does a child get its name? Why is a certain name chosen?

When and how is the child weaned? What happens if the mother’s milk is insufficient? Are there wet- nurses? What relationship does a wet-nurse then hold in the family? to the child? How does the child receive toilet training? By whom? At what age is this begun? At what age do children of either sex habitually wear lower garments?

Are children generally treated well? How is love shown to a child (by the father, by the mother, by siblings, by the grandparents or other relatives)? How are children instructed in the society’s customs and history? Is this done as a situation presents itself, or is a specific program followed? How can a child be protected from illness and injury?

How are children taught proper behavior? Are they told frightening stories to encourage good behavior? or are heroes held up as models to follow? How may they be punished? Are girls punished differently than boys?

Are children of either gender treated preferentially? If so, how and at what age does it begin? At what age are girls treated differently than boys? Are there different expectations for behavior in boys and girls? What qualities of character are considered desirable for each?

With whom does the child have the closest relationship? Does this change as the child gets older? Who seems to love the child most? Who helps care for young children?

At what age are children expected to begin doing chores? What type and are these gender- specific? When are they expected to take part in religious observances and rituals?