Customer Reviews

Canada (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is quite good for the American thinking about living in Canada. However, there are three essentials which the writers have left out:

1) Do NOT even imply that Canadians are so much like Americans that Canada might as well give up its independence and become part of your home country. There is very little that will lead the average Canadian to violence (well, outside of an NHL contract), but that might do it.

2) Canadian kids are taught from the time they learn to walk that it's dirty and boorish to wear shoes indoors. Consequently, if you visit Canadian friends, you must remove your shoes once you enter their home. This is the case even on a sunny fine day. Strangely, being barefoot is not considered anywhere near as crass or thoughtless as wearing shoes indoors, but most people do think to put on socks before visiting others, even if they don't usually wear socks.

3) A common mistake among Americans moving to Canada is to buy a house in the suburbs thinking they're safer and more child-friendly than the inner cities. However, in many Canadian cities the inner cities have better schools, higher quality housing, less crime, and more pleasant neighbourhoods than some of the suburbs. This is especially true of Calgary and Toronto.

I ordered this book because my husband & I are soon moving to Canada. He is Canadian & we have been married 2 years, the same amount of time he has been living here in the U.S. We are in the middle of my immigration to Canada process and I wanted a quick history of & info about what will be my new country. I have visited Canada & since I am married to a Canadian I know that the tone of this book is quite misleading. I'm not sure what countries it's aimed at, but I know it cannot be the U.S.! The authors make it sound like Canada is a backward country full of bingo players who stay home all winter long! It's become a humourous book to me, even the words they say are "Canadian", such as "tad".....my family has used this word since I can remember & so do many others around here (maybe Oregon is too close to Canada?). Read this book with a grain of salt, IF you must read it.....I don't recommend it as much of a correct vision of Canada and Canadians.

This book talks alot about the way things are done in Canada... everything from "Do they like football as much as Americans?" to how much it costs to build a house (based on the rates as of publication). It's a very interesting book. It mostly compares Canada with the U.S. as it's authors are from those countries, but it definately will provide you with some insight. I highly recommend it.

I was in the process of immigrating to Canada and this book was among the two most helpful ones. The other one was "Live and Work in USA and Canada". After reading them I had a pretty good idea what Canadian culture is like - things that you won't normally see on CNN. Both books are highly recommended.

I live in Maine and am somewhat familar with the Canadian culture...perhaps this is why I gave this book such a poor rating. But I found it to be so general in its information that I too wonder just what audience this book is written for? Most of the content seemed just common sense to me and if your from the northeast then a basic sense of climate and its effects can guide you. I had hoped it would have delved greater into the social/family culture and more on their views of American or contrasts of other cultures than the brief page it offered. I will however now subscribe to Macleans magazine, the Canadian equivalent of the Times or Newsweek here in the states, and also the national newspaper from Toronto, The Globe and Mail, to further my knowledge of this great neighbor to the north.

Another in the excellent Culture Shock series. Good book for the visitor, particularly anyone planning a longer stay. Focuses on the everyday aspects of national character and patterns of living.

Culture Shock, Canada I found to be a very useful book which gave me an excellent background to Canada. The book explores the people, the history, the terrain and almost every other issue which makes Canada, Canada and Canadians, Canadians. An essential book to gain a complete understanding of Canada and it's people. I am immigrating to Canada and found the book to be very interesting background reading.