There are so many countries in the world, and there are even some countries that we never heard of. If we think of other minority races, we do not know how many different kinds of people are living in the world. Even though people are saying we are living in the global society, there are so many different kinds of cultures that we did not even heard about. For example, China is consist of 56 minority groups and some of them are still trying to become independent country from China. As we can see, even one particular country have a cultural differences.
Intercultural communication is a cultural differences and similarities, and its influence on people. For example, when I first came to the United States, there were so many things which were different from my country even table manners. I experienced different cultures within the same geographical space.
Culture is the practices, traditions, and stories that give identity to people. It is a background that provides meaning to human life. We are a part shape our identity. For example, Because I am from South Korea, the culture of South Korea is my identity. The practices, traditions, and social norms of South Korea defines myself, and it provides what kind of person I am.
Cultural shock is a feeling of lost experienced when I face communicative situations which upsetting my expectation. For example, when I first came to America, student who was in college called their professors' name when they need them. Because calling professors name is considered as a rude thing in my country, it was really shocking at that time.
Inarticulate is the situation that cannot find the words to describe the certain circumstances. This happens a lot to me. When I talk to professors and classmates, I start to get very nervous. Then I cannot think of the words that are appropriate for that moment. Every time when I became such a mute person, my confidence kept decreased, so I felt embarrassed whenever I spoke English.
Hi Young- thank you for sharing your personal experiences from an outside of the United States cultural perspective. I'm sure it wasn't an easy transition from South Korea as the cultures seem to be very different. Your post gave me some interesting thoughts and I would like to share them with you.
ReplyDeleteYour post states that culture is within the practices, traditions, and stories that tie into the identity of a culture. As it is commonly known that there are an endless number of cultures, what do you (we) think about newly developed cultures? For example, I'm specifically thinking of the recent religion of Scientology that was created in the 1940's or 50's by a man that basically said he wanted to make money and the best way to do that is through starting a new religion (I did a little research on this so that I could get the facts correct). As this would technically be considered a culture, how would one go about creating traditions, stories, or practices? And how does the majority of people not within this particular culture perceive these types of newly developed cultures? Can I create my own culture today in hopes I will receive followers to fit the definition of "culture"? I hope this makes sense to what I'm asking/saying. Thanks!