Language in the U.S.

Personally, I feel that even though there are many different cultures in the United States, there should only be one language used. It is so frustrating when we call a business or go to a business and the workers there don't speak English or don't even understand parts of English. For example, when I go get my nails done, the workers only speak Chinese and only understand what I want done with my nails. While I get my nails done there is no communication between the worker or I because they don't understand me and I don't understand them.

If I ever traveled out of the country, I would make sure to at least learn a few words of that language so I can get around more easily. But if I planned on living in another country that spoke another language, I would make sure to put in full effort to learn the language. It would help me better communicate with the locals. Also, there would be less chances of misunderstanding what that culture was saying.

English is a very difficult language to grasp. We have so many words, some words that are the same but have different meanings to them. It is super confusing. In the book it gave an example where this person had just moved to the states and was invited to a "potluck" party. They didn't know what a potluck was so they didn't bring anything. When they got to the party they felt embarrassed for not bringing anything. This same person was invited to a graduation party and it they were told to bring their own beer. Well when this person went to the store they found something that said "root beer". They brought this to the party and everybody started laughing. See, there are so many ways for people to misinterpret this language.

Also, with language, different cultures find it difficult to pronouncing certain words. These words are hard to say because we are unfamiliar to these words. They aren't words that we use in our everyday life, me might never use these words.

My sister travels a lot and she makes sure to learn sayings that are used in that country so that if she needs to communicate with the locals she can talk to them.

Overall, I think it is very important for people that are going to move to the United States, for them to learn English. It is almost the main language spoken here. And for them to get better jobs or to get a good education, it is very important for them to speak English.

Sense of Self

Why is it that as a young person, I am required to develop a strong identity? Why is it not OK to develop a sense of self throughout life?

As a young person, I feel like I am unable to be independent and self reliant. At the age of twenty, I should be able to live on my own and not have to worry about relying on anyone else to help me along. I feel as though I am not allowed to make my own choices; or maybe I'm just afraid to.

In some societies, young adults are not even allowed to make their choices. It's not a matter of being afraid to, it's a matter of not being able to. In countries such as Africa, Asia, and some Latino societies young adults are required to marry certain people, have certain careers, and go to specific schools. I'm fortunate enough to live in a society where I can make my own decisions and do whatever I want. But then again that doesn't mean I can or my family would agree with some of my decisions.

Like stated in the book, Americans as soon as they turn 18 they are on their own and nobody has authority over them any more. They don't have to listen to their parents (even though they should), they can choose whatever kind of job they want, among many other kinds of decisions.

Our identities develop differently. A person may have a close connection to their family and will create an identity that has a lot of the same views that your parents may had have. Those who didn't have a close connection with their family may tend to create their own identities by what they believe is right and wrong.

My identity has been mostly encouraged by what my parents thoughts are and what their beliefs are. My parents want me to go to college and to get into a good paying career. I think in a way they want me to have these things because they were unable to have them when they were my age. A person can't just wake up one day and say this is who I am as a person. It takes years and maybe even an entire life to be able to say with confidence this is who I am.

My overall thoughts about young people creating a sense of self, it is extremely important to understand what your families beliefs are and what you as a single person believes in. Mix those two things together and throughout their life, they will be able to create a strong independent person.

Family History

Reading through the chapter it made me really think about who I am. Where did my ancestors come from? What kind of jobs did they have and what kind of environment did they live in. My heritage includes Norwegian and Irish mainly, then we have bits of German and Polish.

I've always had a fascination with Ireland. Never really knew why, just felt as though I was drawn to that country. When I was older and I could understand more things I thought it was awesome that I was part Irish. Ireland just seems like one of those places that would be interesting to live in. The landscapes are beautiful and the people there seem as though they would be the nicest people in the entire world.

I feel it is really important for us to know as much as possible about ourselves so that we wont be quick to judge other cultures. If we are unaware of who we are as a culture, then we may be more quick to judge what other cultures do. we might find it weird that one culture doesn't recognize Christmas. If we are not sure why we even celebrate it, then what makes it ok for us to judge that culture that doesn't celebrate it.

Like the book says, a lot of times our family history is not written down, but rather told through stories to generation to generation. Our family history is unique to us, but to other people, our personal family history may be boring. A person's family history occurs at the same time as other people's history/ our countries history.

It's also important to know about our family history because of medical purposes. Think of all of the lives that may be saved if we were able to track down our families medical record and see what kind of diseases were in our blood line. We might be able to treat these disease early on. Or even test a person for them early enough where they could possibly be cured.

Not only is it important to learn about our families history, but also to learn about our countries history. Mostly, we learn about the good that happened in our nation. But it is also important to learn about the bad things that have happened so that way we can learn from the mistakes that we made. Hopefully, learning from these mistakes, we wont make them again.

The only time I remember learning about another culture was in the Spanish class and in my Comparative Religions class. There really isn't that many classes out there that teach you about other cultures. If there were, I think there would be less stereotyping and less stupidity. If you really think about it there are many different types of histories out there. Not only does it have to deal with our countries history, but also with our society and what everyone has gone through such as sexual orientation histories, racial and ethnic histories, etc.

History is so interesting to us, yet it is so difficult to find records about our family. And often they aren't willing to give us records. It kind of makes you wonder how difficult it will be for future generations to figure out about their ancestry...

The Imperatives of Intercultural Communication

Like the book states it, "We live in a rapidly changing global environment where intercultural interaction is a fact of life" (2).

Now I'm thinking to myself... "Why do I have to learn about intercultural communication, I know how people interact with one another." But do I really understand? Do I really know what all is involved within the complexities of intercultural communication. Umm... probably not.

In the book it gives us six reason for why we may choose to study intercultural communication. The first described is The Peace Imperative. This issue asks the question "Can individuals of different genders, ages, ethnicity's, races, languages, and religions peacefully coexist on the planet?" (3). I believe they can if they put in the effort. We aren't animals where we need to fight to survive. People may think so, but me on the other hand, I think we can live peacefully without war and all of this animosity towards different cultures. If we don't have a certain amount of peace, there will be a constant power struggle and this in the end will cause it to be impossible to live with one another.

The second Imperative is Economic Imperative. This is very important for businesses. Mostly larger businesses. I myself, don't have to worry about this really with my current job. We don't deal with businesses that are overseas. Globalization was discussed within this section and it is a word given to businesses that expand into overseas markets to do business. I really don't know that much about this type of imperative and I hope that the more that we discuss more and more cultures and how they coexhist with us, that it will give me a better picture of what all is involved within this section of intercultural communication.

Technological Imperative is the next one discussed. Global village was brought up and it means a world that uses televisions, radios, etc. and when these are used they are used to bring news and information to remote places of the world. Technology is a huge thing now a days. I don't think we could do anything without useing some sort of technology. Almost all of us use a cell phone. We text constantly especially my age group. I send up to 5,000 texts a month and recieve almost the same amount if not more. I find it easier to send quick text rather than call the person. A lot of our electronics are made in other countries. And without these electronics it would be difficult to manage; especially for businesses.

Demographic Imperative are the characteristics of a given population. This one is truely boring to me, so I'm going to leave it at that for now or until my next blog.

Self-awareness Imperative is probably one of the most important to me. I find it important for us to be aware of who we are as a culture so we can teach others and learn from others. If we are are aware of our own culture and are open to learn about others then we can be less judgemental of others. We should know where we come from and what our beliefs really mean and what are values are. If we are educated on our culture then we become more aware of other cultures. We will be more willing to recognize the differences such as different religions, holidays, and clothing along with many many other things.

Lastly is Ethical Imperative each culture has their rights and wrongs. We may not agree with them, but we must live with these differences. Now when I say whats "right" and whats "wrong" those rights and wrongs may be complete opposite of what others think. Some cultures think its right for people to have kids at the age of 15, while others feel that is wrong and one should wait until they are in a stable relationship and in their mid twenties. A really good example was given in the book and this is what it said "the Ten Commandments teach that it is wrong to steal, tell a lie, commit murder..." (17). As a child I was taught that it's wrong to steal, lie, and hurt others. These values or beliefs could be different in other cultures.

So, in the end I come to realize that this is why it is important to be educated in various cultures.

Barriers and differences in different cultures

Thinking back through my life I haven't really been able to think of a time in which I wasn't friends with someone from another culture. When I lived in Eden Prairie for 10 years four of my best friends were from another culture. One was from Russia, another from Somolia, and two were from Korea.

I remember my friend Ding who was from Korea would always be yelled at my his grandmother. I never really understood why until later in life when I found out that the way the grandmother was talking to him was just another way that they would communicate. To me I always thought that he was in trouble. My friend Shamso lived with her mom and brothers. She had like 4 brothers I think and her mother couldn't afford a bigger apartment so Shamso had to stay in the same room with her brothers. I always wondered why because I remember my mom saying that it wasn't right for girls to stay in the same room as boys. But in Shamso's culture it was ok.

I think it's interesting learning about different cultures. Understanding why cultures do things a certain way helps me better understand it and helps me with not judging them right away. I do admitt to judging people very quickly, but since I've started learning about other cultures and reading up on certain cultures I've noticed that I'm not as quick to judge as I was once before.

It's also very important for one to learn other languages. Me, I attempted to learn Spanish and after being in the class for 3 years found that I was just getting more and more confused. I assume this is how it is for others when they are attempting to learn English. This is one of the most complex languages out there along with Japennese. My boyfriend took a Japanese class and said it is so difficult, but he was able to remember some of the catch phrases.

In the book, it gives what the most common definition of Intercultural Communication is, "...occur when people of different cultural backgrounds interact..." (27). As of right now I have to admit that this is what I feel the definition is. Over the course of this semester I hope to create a better definition of what Intecultural communication truely is. The book goes on to say that for one to completly understand the meaning of Intercultural Communication ones needs to understand the root words of it, culture and communication. These are the building blocks of this word and once one has these two words down to a science, then they will figure out the true meaning behind intercultural communication.

The core of intercultural communication is culture. I believe that it is important for one to first understand their culture. If you are unsure about your own culture, how will you be able to understand another? I think it's also cool when you can teach others about your culture, not only will you be able to teach them your beliefs but you will also be able to carry on your beliefs into the future.

When I first hear the word culture what comes to mind...(thinking)... well, possibly music, art, dance, people from another country. But do I think about the patterns of perceptions and the values and behaviors of other cultures? Possibly, but not likly right away will I think of these things. Culture defined in the book is "... learned patterns of perception, value, and behaviors, shared by a group of people, that is also dynamic and heterogeneous. We learn culture. There is no other way of it coming to us. We see how our family lives, we learn from them what we need to do, how we need to act, speak, etc. Family is the largest influence on us, along with our friends and lastly society. People feel as though it is important for them to act like, lets say... celebrities. Me, I could careless what Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan is doing. I'm ME and not THEM. I'm going to act the way that my family taught me; being a responsible adult.

Cultural groups share perceptions. How? Well, the book describes culture as a lens. Looking through that lens is how we view the world. By our every day experiences we then create an interpretation of what we have learned. That interpretation is created by past experiences that is already stored in our brain.

Overall, my ultimate goal for the rest of the semester is to figure out ways to understand other cultures. From there I can compair them to my culture and possibly learn a thing or two and incorporate them into my life. That would be kind of fun...