CULTUREGRAMS
WORLD EDITION

CultureGrams World Edition currently covers 190 countries and each article is written by a native or long term resident of the country. 3-5 new countries are added every year and new countries are selected only if a competent author is found to write the new article.

CultureGrams Kids edition is relatively new and currently covers 68 countries. The articles are written by CultureGram editors with input from country experts and new articles are selected based on school curriculum and cultural diversity. This level is most appropriate for grade school.

The States Edition for the United States and the Provinces Edition for Canada are for Grade School and Middle School and include features such as timelines, original inhabitants, geography and climate.

All the articles are updated yearly. For each country covered you will find a link to a photo gallery that includes scenes from the country, a list of famous people associated with the country (and not always the ones you think will be there) and a collection of recipes from that country.

This tutorial is on the World Edition, there is a separate tutorial for the Kids Edition.

This is the first screen you will see when entering Culturegrams. Move you cursor to the World Edition section and left click to enter.

Once you enter an edition you will see the banner above at the top of every page. From here you can select a new country, select a different edition, look at photos, recipes and the famous people of any country, create a data table or look up some definitions in the glossary.

Definitions
This is a list of some common concepts that you may encounter in CultureGrams texts. The explanations are not necessarily definitions, but they may help you understand how certain terms are used, what significance the terms hold in regard to understanding cultures, and how rates and indexes are calculated.

The following items can be accessed from the banner or from inside the country report. If accessed from the banner you are then asked to select your country. If accessed from within a country report it will automatically take you to that countries information.

Famous People
Gives you a brief biography of various people that are or were important in that country. It could be someone in the arts, scientists, business people, politicians, performers, sports stars, or royalty.

Photographs
Various scenes that you may find within the country- famous places, costumes, modern dress and scenes from everyday life.

Recipes
Includes six typical recipes for main and side dishes and desserts from the country.

This is a country report for India:

Note the following items that you will find on every country report:

The information about each country is arranged in the following topics-

Land and Climate - Information about the regions and seasons in the country. History – Lists the historical highlights of the country. Population – Facts, statistics, ethnic and class divisions within the country. Language - Lists the languages, and number of speakers in the regions of the country. Religion – Which belief systems are practiced and the history of how they became active in the country. General Attitudes – An overview of the average citizen. Personal Appearance – What type of clothing is worn and what physical attributes are common. Greetings – formal and informal greetings and courtesy titles used. Gestures – common gestures used and other gestures that are considered impolite in the specific country. Family – how families and extended familes manifest within society. Dating and Marriage – How couples meet and how marriages are executed. Diet – What is commonly eaten in each regions of the country. Recreation - Favorite sports, hobbies and leisure activities. The Arts - Overview of the cultural aspects of the country such as national literature, poetry, jewelery, performance arts, crafts, folk festivals and fine art. Holidays – Celebrations, festivals and religious holdiday. Commerce – traditional business and government hours. Government – Type of government and political boundaries, heads of state and how elections are conducted. Duties of government officials. Economy – Type of economy (such as Industrial or Agricultural), primary imports and exports. Transportation and Communications – Roads, public and private transportation, radio, television, and telephone services. Education – Attitudes on education, information on compulsory education, condition of schools and statistics on graduation and higher education. Health – Health conditions and challenges. Events and Trends – Current political and sociological events that are effecting the country. Contact information – Embassies, government and tourist contact information.

Currency Converter
This feature will change any amount of currency from one country to the currency of another. There is also a date feature if you want to go back to a previous exchange rate.

Glossary
The glossary lists key cultural terms used in CultureGrams texts. The term will appear in italics and a difinition follows in parentheses. These terms are gathered together and can be accessed from the Definitions tab on the banner.

Data Tables
Create your own tables with the Comparison Table feature—just select the countries and categories that interest you.

Here is an example of a sortable data table. It shows the Central American countries, their populations, literacy rates and the HDI (UN Human Development Index).

Here is an example of an Extreme Data Table-

When you click on ‘Download table as CSV file’ you are asked if you want to Open or Save the file. If you select Save, the next screen will ask you which folder/file you want it to go into and allows you rename the file if you have an alternate name. The new file will open as a spreadsheet with each column of data in a corresponding column on the spreadsheet. You can then manipulate the data as you choose. You can also download your Sortable Data Tables in the same way.