Intercultural Communication To The United States

Culture is the third challenge that immigrants face here. Immigrants have their own cultures and living styles in their home country. The culture of dressing, talking, eating, social life etc… is different here from immigrants’ home country. For example, here man and woman can kiss on the lips anywhere, but this is taboo in my country, Ethiopia. Another example is the way girls’ dress, here girls can wear whatever they like such as shorts and mini dresses. However, in my country, this is not accepted and girls should wear clothes that don’t expose their body. Thus, they should wear shorts and dresses which are below to their knees. The other thing here people eat their food anywhere; they can even eat walking on the street. However, in my country people, especially girls, cannot walk on the street while eating or drinking. There are several customs here that are counted as taboo in

In the Mexican culture, males are preferred over females. For instance, my father would prefer to bond with his sons rather than his daughters because he wanted them to grow up confident and dominant. My brothers were allowed to talk at the dinner at any time, but if any of the females want to comment they have to wait until the men are done discussing. Other times, we were not allowed to have input without being shamed by our father. Also, we were not allowed to answer for man even if they could not answer at the moment. There was an obvious difference of how lenient our parents were with my brothers compared to how we were treated. My brothers were allowed to be with friends, and if they did not meet curfew they weren’t scolded for being late. On the other hand, if any of my sisters and I were late just by one minute, we were not allowed to leave again because we seemed to not be able to come back on

Today, as Americans, we are surrounded by an increasing number of very different cultures, and along with that we are surrounded by numerous

In “How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents” by Julia Alvarez, It’s shown how being engulfed into a new culture can cause people to struggle with keeping their own culture alive because they are around so many people that are living the American culture. Even though there are so many different races and religions in America, we all as Americans know how things work around here, therefore, it can be tough for a different culture to live out their own ways in such a mixed country. It’s impossible to adjust to a culture without changing and being exposed to cultural discrimination.

This text is a good reference point. This text is used to understanding communication within culture. This source also gave a better understanding

Millions of people come to America, the most diverse country in the world, in search for the American Dream. Everyone has their own of American Dream leading them to success. Culture shapes our way of life and is learned through the society that we were born into. Many different kinds of immigrants come to America including white, black, rich, poor, religious, etc. Each have their own way of life and their own customs. Coming to America will be a different lifestyle and it will take time to get used to adopting the various mannerisms. Being born into a certain culture can determine one’s values and behaviors. Traditions change when entering a new setting. Immigrants coming to America have to assimilate to a great degree in an economic and social

You know that feeling of home whether it’s with family members or even your loved ones? I don’t think that home is something that is automatically there, I believe that it is something that’s created. I learned that lesson through the eyes of one of my older friends who came from India with his brother when he was 16 in order to make a living. My friend Vikas, told me everything he had to do and the struggles he conquered in order to make his own successful business here in the U.S. Some things he told be reminded me of interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, and intracultural communication. He had to have a lot of communication with his friend who also happened to be from India and some new friends and colleagues he met through his journey. Of course there was homesickness and the occasional depression, but that didn’t stop him from creating his now successful business.

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.

The United States is commonly know as a melting pot of nations, in which people from around the world have emigrated to form a homogeneous yet varied culture. Although we come from different ethnic groups, we are usually bound together through our common English language. This becomes an issue, however, when immigrants are not familiar with English and American culture, and instead attempt to keep their own heritage alive. They are often torn between identities through language, the one they speak at home which they are familiar with, and the one they must adhere to in public. This often leads to struggle and conflict on both sides, dealing with different cultures and how people react when assimilation occurs. Because of this, living in the United States often requires us to completely accept only one identity, even though hints of the other may spill over at times.

Communication within one cultural group sharing traditions and national or regional identity is often effortless. The social and cultural meanings between the same cultures in regard to communication are understood the way they are intended. When discourse happens within members of the same social groups; they will communicate, talk, discuss in similar places that all members of that culture attend or visit like bars, schools, shopping malls, community meetings, party events, the office, etc. The meaning arrived at or the knowledge and accepted truth toward an issue is more or less the consensus of a

The United States is a melting pot for people of all cultures. According to the US Census, immigrants make up almost 12% of the population of the United States and their children make up 20%, meaning that one-fifth of Americans may potentially experience intergenerational cultural dissonance, also known as the parent-child conflict between an immigrant and their America-born child. The

Previous researchers have found that for a person to achieve better and more effective communication competence, it is necessary to develop skills that allow an appropriate participation in specific situations. The ability to listen, ask questions, and express concepts or ideas effectively is an important part of communication competence. Intercultural communication presents an unexplored and challenging field that needs to be understood for a better development in communication. (Dillon and McKenzie, 1998). The variables of listening depend on the different perceptions that a person obtains through their cultural background. Furthermore, culture often affects the structure of consciousness in the act of listening. When a person seeks to

Intercultural communication is commonly explained as an interaction between people of 'different cultures whether defined in terms of racial, ethnic or socioeconomic differences.' Human communication consists of verbal and nonverbal messages (language and gestures) which are shaped by gender, social class or culture. Thus, what perimeters define the intercultural exchange and what primary messages do we need or try to convey?

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.

"We didn 't all come over on the same ship, but we 're all in the same boat."- Bernard Baruch