Page 38 - CARRASCO CARRASCO JESSICA LIZBETH

UNIVERSIDAD TÉCNICA DE AMBATO

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS HUMANAS Y DE LA EDUCACIÓN

CARRERA DE IDIOMAS

Names: Jessica Carrasco & Tamara Naranjo

Date: April 17, 2017.

AMERICAN CULTURE IN THE WORLD

1. Evolution of American Culture

This is true that American culture is not the same as it was 50 years ago; it’s not

even the same as it was 10 years ago. It changes as a reaction to what is going on
in the world. It seems that each decade America features a different kind of cultural

norm and climate around the world.

2. Impact of American Culture in the World

The basis for the impact is, of course, America’s position as the world’s dominant

superpower. Not only does the USA have “hard power” – the ability to get people
to do what it wants. It also has enormous “soft power” – the ability to get people to

want what it does. It was not always so. Before the 20th century, America was
viewed as a cultural backwater. At that time the “American Dream” was the USA’s

greatest cultural export to the world – an open-ended inspiration into which millions
poured their own dreams and hopes for a better life. It was around the time of the

First World War that things began to change, that America first began to export

some of its home grown culture abroad. It was not until after the Second World
War, however, that the flood gates really burst. The rise of the consumer economy

and the “American lifestyle” in the 1950s had a terrific impact on the world when
American popular culture went global.

2.2 English language

Today, close to 70% of all native English speakers are American, dwarfing all other
groups. A constant stream of American TV, films, songs, computer games and

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