Cultural Differences Paper

One of the Cultural Studies Course International Perspectives on Bilingual & Multicultural Education taught by Kelly Ann Witkowski. Our class met on Tuesdays we were exchanged, shared, embrace and analyze an experience of bilingual and multicultural education and create a community of learners responsible for understanding the world we are committed to changing.

There are many cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan. Each country has their culture and lifestyle. While we may feel that Japanese cultural and lifestyle seems strange, they likewise look at Americans as being different.

When a person announce their getting married, they say it with the hopes of eternal love of their future spouse. Not realizing that conflict occurs, but not with the spouse but the family members. Some of the conflict may be due to various cultural differences and personality types. Culture is the belief, custom, knowledge, rituals, language and other things that such as a way of thinking or life. As cultural differences is determine on what we believe. Mayer (2012) mentions, that beliefs are what’s important to an individual. And if the conflict arises, individuals take things personally because it becomes personal of what the individual believe is right as it may be wrong in the eyes of another person. So having the differences, others are not at the same level and conflict arises. Depending on how it’s manage depends on one’s culture norm and the impact on family gatherings. Therefore, one has to understand their own triggers and avoid them while interacting negatively with others.

This class has taught me many lessons. One of the most important things that I have learned throughout this course has been about my own culture. Many discussions in class and the initial essay we wrote opened my eyes to what culture actually is; there to help me find and understand my own. Along with finding my own identity, I have become far more open minded because of this class this. Some of my original preconceptions about language have been drastically altered and that is why I decided to choose, “Identification of linguistic and cultural norms and the exploration of how norms and assumptions support institutionalized discrimination.” as the purpose of this paper, along with, “Standard language versus varieties of a language” as my topic. These give me the perfect structure for this essay. I chose this theme and topic because it was something we talked about in depth during the class. Before coming into the class I had presumptions about these particular issues that ended up changing because of this class. I feel this is something important to write about because a lot of people probably had the same preconceptions as me and need to be given the opportunity to change their minds or at least form their opinion around all the available information about the topic. Throughout history there have been many stereotypes about the different types of english in america, including my personal preconceptions before this class. Over the course of the semester, my preconceptions on

In my culture, gender roles are very personal. Gender roles contribute to how females and males should think, speak, dress, and interact with others. There are different ways gender roles have developed over time and how people choose to interpret gender roles and what the male and female have to do. I was born and raised in San Diego California. My mom is from Acapulco, Guerrero and my dad is from Morelos, Cuernavaca. They both were raised by strict mexican parents who raised them to be responsible at a young age. Both of my parents started working at the age of 10. My dad would work at a bakery after school and then switched up to driving trucks, transporting beer. My mom didn’t get the chance to go to school, my grandparents sent my uncle instead. She would go sell food to el mercado the whole day then come back with her sister, and make food for their brothers and wash their clothes. My grandma would make my aunts and mom do things for their brothers thing that they could have done for themselves. Because my mom was always doing thing for her brothers and my dad sisters had to do things for him that weren’t always in his power to say no do not do it, but his parents. They decided to not fully continue this way of teaching and raised me and my siblings in a similar way but not as strict as their parents.

As a healthcare professional, I acknowledge the key role that culture plays to influence behavior in patients. Therefore, I haven’t let any cultural barrier limit my ability to meet the needs of my patients or reduce their opportunities to benefit from services that I can provide. Language difference is a challenge to both paitiens and nurses in communicating about health beliefs, values, descriptions of symptoms (Polan & Taylor, 2011). Therefore, patiens can become frustrated, or are unable to comply with treatment if they do not understand. In addition, patients were more likely to ask more questions and will have better understanding with nurses who also speak the same language as theirs (Polan & Taylor, 2011). In order to enhance my communication with non-English speaking patients, I usually use language line service or interpreters. All written translators such as consent forms, patient educations and instructions are printed in languages appropriate with the patient’s if they are available.

No matter what the age, the gender, or the culture, communication is a large portion of each of our lives. Communication is an ingredient of everyday life and each culture plays a significant role in how one learns to interact with another by means of verbal and nonverbal communication. While shaking someone’s hand might be normal and a gesture of acceptance in American culture, this can be considered a sign of disrespect or even being rude in another. Communication between two people of different cultures can go unpleasantly if one does not gain the knowledge of what is acceptable and not acceptable in the others culture. Learning the do’s and don’ts of cultures different than our own can broaden our relationships and strengthen our ability to communicate amongst those who do not share the same beliefs. Let’s take into consideration the cultural differences of communication between the United States and India. By learning the

When comparing cultures, one must form a definition of what culture is. Culture can be easily defined as the social behavior and normality’s found in human societies. It can also be easily made up of a composed arrangement of educated conduct and thought designs. Culture is a sorted out framework since it includes many parts. Throughout the world, there are many cultures that are both very different and also very similar. "Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at table, how we greet visitors, how we behave and one million other things." (Cristina De Rossi.)

The Korean peninsula has been inhabited for roughly 40,000 years. Many significant events throughout Korea’s history have played important roles in shaping Korea’s culture into what it is today. The name Korea originally rooted from “Koryo,” which was the succeeding dynasty in 918-1392 after the Tongil Silla period (period in which the peninsula was unified). Korea was imposed by Japanese colonial rule and finally liberated at the end of World War II in 1945. Following the end of the war, Korea faced an internal battle, resulting in the division of the country into two parts: the north, which is the People’s Republic of Korea backed by powerful communist allies such as China and Russia, and the south, which

Learning, and understanding why and how different cultures live, is something that can benefit anyone socially because it can help foster understanding, break down social barriers, and introduces new or different ways of doing things.

Although I have lived in America for over ten years, which is more than half of my lifetime, I still identify my common culture of my ethnicity as Korean.

After talking about our knowledge of disability, I found that there are some differences among different cultures. In my culture, although the situation of disabled people is improving, still lots of people consider that they are different. Sometimes they suffer from discrimination and bullying. However, a group member who is from Samoan stated that disabled people are treated equally, protected and supported by religion all the time in Samoan. Besides, the stereotype of disability in Samoa is also new and significant for me. Samoans believe that family member or parent breaking social norms or violating social rules is an element making disabled people be disabled. In my cultural situation, an idea in the Buddhist is that disability is a punishment for a person who did wrong things in the preexistence.

The cultural differences within our society of today occur more often than one would believe. Cultural differences occur due to how we were raised and the beliefs we were instilled with. A main cultural difference that has been in the spotlight recently is the idea of how to raise one’s children. After Yale law professor Amy Chua had excerpts of her book published in the Wall Street Journal, sparks flew bashing her parenting methods which she uses on her young children. Chua, who grew up with Chinese parents, chooses to use Chinese parenting styles to drive her children to success. Chua bashes the Western parenting styles within her writing pieces, claiming that her parenting techniques are superior. Many critics disagree with her

Culture plays an important role in individuals’ mannerisms, ways of communication, and beliefs. Culture takes root long before we even know the meaning of the word. When healthcare providers strive to gain knowledge and understanding about the idealisms of different cultures, they establish a foundation of cultural competence to develop their professionalism.

Jia is an Asian American and I am Hispanic our cultures have some similarities primarily the emphasis on family and duty to one’s family. Asian Americans have a strong sense of family loyalty that is held in place by shame and guilt, much like Hispanics only Hispanics tend to be more forgiving then Asians and that is where we differ. With us Hispanics we talk a big game in disowning our children, but the majority will stay take them back even if they refuse to cooperate Asian families to do not share the same sentiment. Every culture has differences and similarities even amongst themselves every family is different.