CULTURAL DIVERSITY & COMMUNICATION
As we have learned, communication is a big deal and this is what
we do on an everyday basis to interconnect with others. Our world is made up of
many different individuals with many different cultures that affect the way in
which we can relate. Within my sphere of influence, I communicate with
individuals that are different from me. Most people have a tendency to
communicate with others on how intimate they are with a person. I interact with
my family differently from my colleagues, coworkers, parents and children. In the
past, I have found myself communicating differently with those that may have had
a different culture and or background from mine. But that was because I had
little interaction with them and did not know how to effectively communicate. For
instance, I have a certain place where I go to have my nails done. Most of the
individuals have a different ethnicity and some are unable to fully speak our
language. Most of them can speak it but
just find it hard to sometimes convey what needs to be said in the English
language. So, most often, what I find myself doing is when having to ask a question,
I find myself speaking really slow so that they can understand me. However, if
there is something that I said that they are unable to understand, I usually
ask one of the other individuals that can speak the language. This is just one
example that I can use but for the most part I try to treat everyone the same.
Three strategies that I can use to help me communicate more effectively
is that first, I can maybe take the time to find out some of the basic words in
the culture that can help me communicate and speak some of their language. When
I lived in Germany and did not speak the language, I purchased a book and
learned some basic key words such as hello and thank you and good morning and
etc. This helped me until I became comfortable with interacting and speaking
some of the words to get by.
The second strategy that I can use is to befriend or spend time with an individual of that culture. I have also done this as this helped me to better understand their culture and have the opportunity to ask questions about the things that I wanted to learn about. Sometimes this is a better approach than assuming some things that I might see or have questions about as well.
The third strategy is that I can take the time to not carefully listen to others. I have developed the skill to become a good listener. I enjoy this but I believe this is important because everyone wants to be listened too. When you learn to listen you can learn about a person in the way in which they talk and in things that they say or not say is important.
The second strategy that I can use is to befriend or spend time with an individual of that culture. I have also done this as this helped me to better understand their culture and have the opportunity to ask questions about the things that I wanted to learn about. Sometimes this is a better approach than assuming some things that I might see or have questions about as well.
The third strategy is that I can take the time to not carefully listen to others. I have developed the skill to become a good listener. I enjoy this but I believe this is important because everyone wants to be listened too. When you learn to listen you can learn about a person in the way in which they talk and in things that they say or not say is important.
Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI agree communication is very significant in our lives and profession. I also agree that learning parts of different languages will be helpful in communicating with families, and others. Learning about one's culture and belief's is also very helpful in communicating with others. Effective listening is a must in our profession. Great strategies !
I enjoyed reading your post and I can truly relate to what you have said. Especially about getting your nails done. It is kind of hard to understand what they are saying but I try to listen carefully and observe how they say it because I don't want them to have too repeat themselves. Becoming friends and learning about their culture is a great advice and I plan to learn some of their language...
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara, I found out I am not used to the second strategy you list here. Sometimes, I couldn't communicate well with strangers may because I don't understand them well. It reminds me to get some background of the people I want to communicate. Many thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteBarbara thank you so much for the strategies to help with communicating. I could really relate to the first strategy and feel that it would be touching if we all embraced this one. When I lived in Japan for four year, I also purchased a language book to learn a few words to communicate and learn about their culture. Learning these things was crucial because I most of the things that I had been told or learned from other before being there was incorrect. One example is if you place a chopstick in your rice, this is very disrespectful to their culture. If I had not taken the time to learn about this, I would have offended all Japanese that I came into contact with.
ReplyDelete