Enhancing Cultural Interactions and Removing Misunderstandings

Take a moment to think about the following question: what is culture? Culture is everything a person does, believes in, creates, came from, and has done. It is also so much more than this simple list, but this is a good idea of what it generally is. Culture affects a lot of things as well. It can affect what you do, how you do certain things, and how you see things comparison to others. Culture is a major factor in how people perceive the world and those around them. Everybody sees the world differently through their cultural glasses. Some people see things as foreign and confusing, while others see the same things as daily life. The idea of different cultural viewpoints is shown in many articles throughout the years. Each of these stories

Different social, professional and cultural contexts may affect relationships and the way people communicate due to of a lack of understanding or knowledge of one another’s background and culture. This could be through their race, religion, ethnicity or where they come from. Each one of these can have similar or very different ways to communicate. For example

Cultures are judged deeply from others with can be out of how similar and different one is from another. Many cultures are similar in the way one dresses. Or by the way one eats or even cuisine, but with similarities comes differences. One difference almost all cultures is how the live, and how they perceive it, even down to how they express their own beliefs.

The harmony of the existing cultures is crucial for the survival and success of any communication and ignoring these aspects may challenge the communication. For example, speaking to employees in Middle East is quite different from Switzerland; talking about personal things is acceptable by Swiss. Individuals who move to other countries unprepared for cultural differences may face unpleasant frustration when communicating. However, those who try to learn other cultures are likely to avoid individual tragedies. For example, Americans doing business in Mexico need to learn the local language to enhance interactions with the locals.

Different cultures tend to clash when they come in contact because they encompass many different beliefs and expectations. Everyone has a cultural identity and they act accordingly to it. Therefore, when two people with different cultures interact they

Have you thought of someone’s culture as weird? Have you thought that you are completely different from them? If so, what prompts us to make that assumption. Culture is a very good reason for this. So, to what extent does one’s culture inform the way one views others and the world? Culture informs a person on the way others are and the world.

Nowadays, the communications with others are different from the traditional ways and normal rules. People take advantage of new technology to communicate instead of face to face. Although the email and text message make people easy to communicate, the society

Today, we live in a culturally diverse society due to globalization. As our world grows, expands and become increasingly more interconnected, the need for effective interpersonal communication among differing cultures has become apparent. When people from different cultures interact with one another there is intercultural communication because different cultures create different interpretation and expectations about what is seen as competent behaviors that will enable the construction of shared meanings.

6. Culture is definitely experienced differently by members within a given society. These experiences are shaped by various factors including class,education,religion, and upbringing, and in some cases race and gender depending on the society. A wealthy businessperson may have completely different interactions with police than would a minority individual in a poverty stricken environment. A person who prefers to live

Culture has been changing rapidly over decades at a time, but today we see culture change faster than any point in history. With so much advancements in technology cultures are more connected than ever, making it hard not to be exposed to other cultures all over the world. You can walk into a classroom and look at room full of students, but look past the face you have a room full different cultures, most are exposed to several different types cultures throughout their lifetime. Being exposed to so many cultures, It almost makes It hard to tell the differences between two cultures. Because people are so connected, people fail to see the significant differences in the way people interact across the world.

To learn from another that is not like you, that is from another country, gives you the opportunity to acquire knowledge that opens your eyes and lets you better understand the world around you. That can definitely be said after conducting my interview for the Cross-Cultural Interaction Report. I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Blanchefort Djimsa, a Food Science major, who is from the country of Chad which is located in Central Africa. Blanchefort is from the city of Moundou, the third largest city, which is in the South of Chad. Here on scholarship, he is attending Oklahoma State University to further his education. Blanchefort told me about his country and gave me a different perspective about Chad.

Throughout the world, cultures shape every state, country, and continent. People perceive things differently because of culture and society. Yet, these are the people who do not have the understanding what culture is nor have the education about culture. In the YouTube video named: “Cross Cultural Communication”, Pellegrino Riccardi provides background history on how people should communicate better with other nationalities.

As travel and communication have become faster and easier, interaction between people of different cultures has become more and more common. It was once the case that different cultures remained mostly separate from each other, whether due to war, geographic reasons, or beliefs in keeping ethnic purity. Trade and immigration have brought together people of diverse cultures and backgrounds, making communication between people of different cultures unavoidable.

Intercultural communication competence refers to the ability of an individual to adapt and communicate appropriately and effectively across a wide array of cultural contexts. That is to say, for an individual to be considered an intercultural communicator they must understand other’s cultures as well as they understand their own, and apply this understanding to communication (Chen 1-2). With the increasing diversity at the workplace, school and other social settings, it has become increasingly important to learn how to communicate with people from a diverse array of cultures. More importantly, adapting to a more effective intercultural communication competence model provides us with learning opportunities occasioned by the interaction with people from other backgrounds. The intercultural communication competence model comes with some key components including tolerance for uncertainty, self-knowledge, and motivation. The greatest and most important of these aspects is motivation. An individual must be willing to foster relationships with people from a different cultural background. If an individual lacks the willingness to promote intercultural relationships, then other aspects of the intercultural communication model become moot.

Cross-cultural communication is the process of exchanging meaningful and unambiguous information across cultural boundaries, in a way that preserves mutual respect and minimizes antagonism, that is, it looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds endeavour to communicate. The study of cross-cultural communication was originally found within businesses and the government both seeking to expand globally. Communication is interactive, so an important influence on its effectiveness is our relationship with others. All communication is cultural -- it draws on ways we have learned to speak and give nonverbal messages. We do not always