Running Head : Kazakhstan 's Culture

I have been wanting to broaden my knowledge and experiences beyond Latin America and Azerbaijan presents the type of non-Euro centric opportunity I desire. During my graduate studies, I am focusing on post-Soviet countries and Azerbaijan to present a fascinating case study. The country and its people have flourished compared to other former-Soviet states, with Baku developing into a world-class city. Azerbaijani is also spoken in Iran and Dagestan, and I want to learn more about these countries and how the language shapes their citizens’ lives.

This analysis will increase cultural awareness through the understanding of culture norms and values of Kazakhstan and its people. The Central Asian country borders China, and Russia, amongst other poor countries, is filled with grand culture and folklore. Gaining a vast understanding of the countries different dialects, people, religions, food, and traditions; to name a few. First, discovering the true meaning of culture, what does it mean? What are culture differences between two different cultures living in America, and why is tradition important in Culture? Then, we categorize the five characteristics of culture, and why each is so important. Moreover,

We are all members of a social group and members of `society´ as a whole. People interact in many ways and communication is just about the most common and among the most important. Whatever is meaningful to a group, from their everyday life to their traditions constitutes their very own culture and is generally respected by all group members. Language is only one of such items. For ethnic minority groups that may have a language of their own, their language is a cornerstone in their culture.

Geographical position of Kazakhstan demands implementation of trilingual system in our society. The necessity for the use of languages in Kazakhstan due to variety of factors. Kazakhstan has to be perceived around the world as the highly educated country which population uses three languages: the Kazakh language — state, Russian as language of international communication and English — language of successful integration into global economy traditions, the international experience and practice.

Russia has many cultural characteristics that have shaped the country we know today. A nation 's culture can define its actions and make them more predictable as a state on the international level. Understanding a nation’s culture gives great insight into the motives and reasoning behind their aggression or acts of force. Factors such as geography, weather, political landscape, military, and key infrastructure provide a clear understanding of Russian culture and how it has shaped the nation over the past century.

The Chechen Republic or, informally, Chechnya, is a federal subject of Russia. It is located in the Northern Caucasus Mountains, in the Southern Federal District within 100 kilometers of the Caspian Sea (Chechnya, 2013). The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny. The population of Chechnya was 1,268,989, according to the 2010 Russian Census (Chechnya, 2013). As of the 2010 Census, Chechens make up 95.3% at 1,206,551 of the republic 's population. The predominant religion in Chechnya is Islam. Chechens are overwhelmingly adherent to the Shafi 'i Madhhab of Sunni Islam, the republic having converted to Islam between the 16th and the 19th centuries (Twigg, 2005) . In 1997 Chechnya officially embraced Islam

The Karelian people are a Baltic-Finnic ethnic group who inhabit north western Russia and south eastern Finland, and most of the lands that cover the borders of these two countries, Karelian consists of 5 developing languages and is very similar to Finnish in which it shares a common ancestry, and could be considered to be a dialect of Finnish. The population of the Karelian people in the Russian federation alone as of 2010 is estimated at 25,600, while the sum amount of speakers in all countries is 35,600 (ethnography, 2010) a relatively small amount compared to Russian and Finnish speaking people. There are several different subgroups of Karelians that vary based on linguistic traditions, material and customary geographic distinctions. Karelians are closely related to the Sami people of northern Scandinavia, and the Seto people of south eastern Estonia as well as the people of Livonia, an ethnic group of northern Latvia.

Pastoralism is an economy based on herding. They mainly maintain herds of animals and use their products to

Islam, Gender and Education in Kazakhstan Nazgul Mingisheva (Karaganda Bolashak University, Kazakhstan) nazgulm2006@gmail.com Paper presented at the ASN World Convention Columbia University, April 19-21 2012 Please do not cite without the author’s permission © Nazgul Mingisheva

Other important ethnicities include Abkhazians, Chechens, Ingush, and Ossetians. Every ethnicity has a long-standing and complex set of grievances against each other in the region. But from a political geography perspective, every ethnicity in the Caucasus has the same aspiration, to carve out a sovereign nation-state. In Russia, Russian is spoken by more than 80 percent Russian people and is one of six official languages of the United Nations. Meanwhile in Chechnya, they speak a series of different Caucasian languages.

Kyrgyzstan’s society is one that has changed yet remained the same as time has passed. Traditional family customs have yet to change but marriage is the area in the society that has changed and continues to change as the influence of westernization continues to spread. Compared to the western society, there are many cultural differences in Kyrgyzstan’s society. Living in the United States of America made this learning experience difficult for me because of the major differences between our two societies.

In previous generations learning another language didn’t had an importance, but now it’s necessary and important to communicate with others. Technology doesn’t help as well because you have to learn the basics on how to communicate with

To begin, culture is the art and other manifestation of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. Culture can intern be categorized by a multitude of characteristics. The basis in which there are learning, sharing, symbolism, integration and dynamic characteristics of culture. Mongolia, for example would have a symbol characteristic for the fact of the nation flag features a Soyombo; a complex, meaningful design which components represent fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and the yin-yang symbol. The essay you are going to read will include Mongolian cultural characteristic, and the following areas of interest. The way Mongolian physical geography effects living while being in that area of the world. The Mongolians cultural war tactic based upon Genghis Khans ruling and how it shapes the way people fight today. The

Abatement of the main signs of national identity - traditional mode of life resulted in deterioration of culture and language, which inflicted severe damages to cultural memory. The first a half of the XX century was marked for Kazakhstan by the difficult, erratic events which lead to almost irreversible consequences for the Kazakh’s cultural identity: collectivisation, Famine-Genocide, mass political repressions. Destruction of ethnic consciousness at the most different levels resulted in loss of national nomadic space, deaths of thousands of Kazakhs – bearers of traditions and calculated destruction of intellectual elite by government. Despite all efforts, the subsequent three generations of Kazakhs were not able to completely heal the scar left more than seventy years ago.

These methods generate a greater amount of interest and enjoyment than the more traditional printed material, which is usually used in Kazakhstan. They give students easy, creative and effective ways to increase their proficiency in the target language. Kazakh students can see the real connection between their lives and the language they study thus making the language personal. The target language becomes alive for them.