Culture is a
powerful operating force that conditions the way we feel and think. The more you know about your culture the
better ability you will have to adapt to an intercultural perspective.
In simple
lingo, the better we know ourselves, the better we can understand others, and
the more we know about each other’s values and beliefs the better we can
communicate.
Therefore,
the first things you might want to do are:
- To understand who you are,
- To understand how your culture defines you as an individual,
- And to learn how your culture feels about various issues, since some issues may be understood differently in one culture than the other.
Examples of
issues that may become a barrier in intercultural communication are:
- Body language > nonverbal communication
- In American culture, inability to maintain eye contact means being dishonest, weak, and evasive. Whereas in Asian culture it means one is being respectful and considerate.
- Tone > verbal communication
- In Canada people raise their voices to get the feeling of anger across, but in Latin America people talk loudly because they are generally happy.
- Writing style > written communication
- North American culture values a direct and straightforward style where objectives are stated clearly. In Japanese culture this style may be misunderstood as being presumptuous and rude.
- Meaning behind words > cultural context
- A Japanese speaker may say “yes” when he really means “no” and this could be understood through his tone, facial expression, body language and time taken to answer. Whereas an American speaker would not hesitate to say “no”, but give reasons to support his decision as well.)
So once we
have the knowledge of the basic characteristics of our culture and other
cultures, we can use it to help us make adjustments and accommodations, all in
the hope of achieving intercultural proficiency.
Try taking this personality quiz to acquire further understanding of yourself.
http://www.usefulcharts.com/psychology/short-personality-test.html
...How did you like the quiz? Did you learn something new about yourself?
