Understanding Cultural Communication
Language is a communication method that makes everything easy to communicate with others. The language barrier is the biggest challenge and hurdle of most people whom their English is a second language. Growing up in a family with parents that only speak another language could be viewed very similarly to a double-edged sword. This challenge with society forces people to learn the English language. Although there a lot of difficulties with the second language, eventually the transition between both languages would become easier by time and more practice. Starting to be able to comprehend the English language is the best way overcomes this barrier. Although these challenges were not easy to overcome, persistence, dedication and hard work would facilitate everything. Despite the fact that language is considered the biggest barrier, culture comes as a second harder barrier in means of communication. Effective communication with people of different cultures is especially challenging. Culture on the other hand, provides people with ways of thinking, seeing and hearing and, then understands the things around. Thus, the same word can mean different things to people from different cultures, even when they talk the same language. Stella Ting-Toomey describes how culture involves with cultural understanding where ach culture has its own rules about proper behavior which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. How close the people stand to each
The article “Don't Blame The Eater,” written by David Zinczenko evokes readers the crucial impact that fast food restaurants have in today's nation's youth causing them to be over weight and have type 2ndiabetes. Throughout Zinczenko's argument he makes the reader view the consumer as a victim yet on the other hand, what he is trying to persuade us to believe by using logos,pathos,and ethos in his argument is that the food industry is the one making the nation's youth to increase obesity. The capacity of impressive questions and personal experience, he composed in the text he is able to comprehensively argue against the fast food industry. The author persuades us right away by starting of with a question: “Kids taking on McDonald's this
In the article, “Don’t Blame the Eater, by David Zinczenko discusses about his childhood and how it has affected him. In addition, he explains thoroughly about fast food and the companies behind it. Zincozenko also talks about fast food companies have affected him and other in today’s world.
Since birth, a little girl by the name of Melody was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. That is a disorder that affects movement, muscle tone, and motor skills. It causes reflex movements that the person can’t control and it causes muscle tightness that can affect a part of the body if not the whole body. Ever since she was born, she was loved and cared for but she wasn’t able to say a single word. The book’s title is “Out of My Mind,” by Sharon M. Draper. It focuses on a disabled girl and her thoughts. Most fiction books have author’s purposes and this book’s author’s purpose is to entertain and inform.
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
Communication involves more than exchanging words between people. Gestures, postures, facial expressions and even eye contacts are important during communication. Both verbal and nonverbal cues are important during communication and can help a person understand the speaker or listener’s emotions, attitudes or status. Understanding the existence of various cultures is necessary since different cultures have varying ways of communication (Lustig & Koester, 2012). Therefore, a communication style that is perceived as bad by a culture may be good in another culture. Besides, characteristics that may be essential for a particular culture may be quite irrelevant for another. In line with this dissimilarity, individuals need to adapt carefully and understand communication preferences and desires among cultures.
Immigrating to America is a process in which many people all across the world entrust as their one way ticket to a better life. Whether they do so legally or illegally, coming to the United States ensures better opportunities, economically, politically, and so on, to people who would have otherwise been worse off in their countries of origin. Even so, the common understanding of being “better off” can be considered a misconstrued concept when it comes to living in the states. Many families that choose to immigrate to the U.S. fail to realize the cultural hardships that newcomers tend to face once on American soil. Anything from racial discrimination or bias at work, in neighborhoods, at school, etc., can all be challenges that people encounter when making a move to the U.S. Such challenges are described by Richard Rodriquez in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. In this passage, he explains how cultural differences between Mexican and American ways of life have shaped him into the person that he is today. He also chooses to highlights the problems that he faces growing up in a predominately white neighborhood, while attending a predominantly white institution. Much of his writing consists of the cultural differences and pressures he feels to assimilate to Western culture and how this process, in turn, changes him into the person that some may find to be unethical, but nonetheless, someone he is proud of.
In our world of expanding technology and shrinking geography, people of different cultures have increasing frequency of contact and need for effective communication on a daily basis. Whether through travel, immigration, or international business, having the ability to communicate across many different cultures is an advantage in and of itself. Speaking a different language is an obvious obstacle to intercultural communication, but a greater and more difficult hurdle is to “speak” a different culture. To understand and comprehend and even apply these tiniest
All communication is cultural. It draws on ways we have learned to speak and give nonverbal messages. We do not always communicate the same way from day to day, since factors like individual personality, mood, and the context of the situation interact with the variety of cultural influences we have internalized that influence our choices. Communication is interactive, so an important influence on its effectiveness is our relationship with others. Do they hear and understand what we are trying to say? Are they listening well? Are we listening well in response? Do their responses show that they understand the words and the meanings behind the words we have chosen? Is the mood positive and receptive? Is there trust between them and us? Are there differences that relate to ineffective communication, divergent goals or interests, or fundamentally different ways of seeing the world? The answers to these questions will give us some clues about the effectiveness of our communication and the ease with which we may be able to move through conflict. The challenge is that even with all the good will in the world, miscommunication is likely to happen, especially when there are significant cultural differences between communicators. Miscommunication may lead to conflict, or aggravate conflict that already exists, or in the sad of case of girl developing epilepsy and both her parent’s Hmong culturally clashing with her Western medicine
There are a lot of barriers that existence within human nature. The most profound barrier that exists is the language barrier. As human, we are met to communicate with one another. Without communication, there is simply no connection. A language barrier draws imagery line between people to make them feel distant on a deeper level. The frustration rushes through one’s brain when he or she realizes that they have a mouth but cannot utilize it to get their point across. There is a great deal of frustration to be misunderstood due to the restraint and limitation the knowing words and of trying to piece these words together to properly express oneself. In this paper, I will explain the effect and frustration of boundaries between people and how there are ways to try to get rid of that profound barrier.
In Joshua Foer’s essay, “The End of Remembering” (found in Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, published 2011) he explores the history and current state of remembering and how technology affects it.
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.
To some degree, every artist creates his or her own artistic life preserver, and in doing so resequences and conserves their own artistic DNA so that it may be transferred onto another generation. Vladimir Nabokov’s memoir Speak, Memory, is not only that preserver, but the tug boat that it holds onto, heavy and cramped with the memories and history that Nabokov retells his readers against the currents of time. Speak, Memory operates thematically, not chronologically. Nabokov returns anew to his early childhood and pulls in, as it were, the memories associated with certain themes. Then he turns, changes directions, and sets off again. One such theme that resonates throughout the novel is that of exile and deteterritorialization, both
Humans have been communicating since four million years. On the other hand, the birth of culture is estimated to have taken place about 35,000 years ago. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have become interdependent of one another, to the point that communication is considered to be a product of culture. Thus, our own culture has a deep impact on our thoughts and behaviors. Since each culture has its distinct aspects, intercultural communication can be the cause of conflict and disorder. There are three main issues which are at the root of the problem of intercultural miscommunication : language as a barrier, cultural diversity and ethnocentrism. I will analyze
Communication is a learned skill, which must require research and practice. Knowing and understanding something about the other culture and if you are talking with different cultural groups it will help you develop your skills. The internet can be a great resource for investigating the different cultures. A genuine effort to communicate is a very effective way to learn. You must alert about the different way how the people interact. It is important to keep an open mind in unfamiliar situations. You must know about the vocabulary and different meaning of words. Verbal communication is the basis of the most assessment and it is
Cultural awareness becomes central when we have to interact with people from other cultures. People see, interpret, and evaluate things in a different ways. What is considered an appropriate behavior in one culture is frequently inappropriate in another one. Misunderstandings arise when I use my meanings to make sense of your reality. Cultural Awareness is the foundation of communication and it involves the ability of standing back from us and becoming aware of our cultural values, beliefs, and perceptions. To better our culture we need to ask ourselves, why do we do things this way or why do we act a particular way? When we find these answers, we can better live and socialize amongst one another. Misinterpretations occur primarily when we lack awareness of our own behavioral rules and project them on others. In absence of better knowledge, we tend to assume, instead of finding out what a behavior means to the person involved. Becoming aware of our cultural dynamics is a difficult task because culture is not conscious to us. Since