Throughout the
years I know I have found myself communicating differently with people from
different groups and cultures. “When we
communicate with people who have different cultural backgrounds than our own,
we tend to share less information with them than we do with people who share
our cultural heritage” (Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, 2011,
p. 97). I know there have been times
when I haven’t communicated as much with a parent because of a language barrier
or cultural differences. There are
parents that I make stronger connections with each school year and some of it
probably has to do with the similarities in our cultures.
One strategy I could use to help communicate with people
from different cultures is to ask questions and listen effectively. I know that when I ask questions I do learn
more about a person and their culture. I
did this last year with a parent from Honduras and it was interesting to learn
about her and her life in Honduras. I
need to remember to do this with all of my parents not just the ones from a
different country. Most importantly I
need to make sure I am listening effectively when we are communicating.
A second strategy I could use to help communicate with
people from different cultures is to avoid negative judgments. I believe this is true no matter who you are
communicating with. You are going to be
a more productive, happy person if you avoid negative judgments and more people
are going to want to communicate with you.
A third strategy I could use to help communicate with people
from different cultures is to become more other-oriented. I would like to say I always think of others
before myself but that is not true.
Being other-oriented can help you be a better communicator but also just
a better person.
Reference
Beebe,
S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal
communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Hi Courtney,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Thank you for the ideas about communicating with other cultures. I agree that it is much easier and it comes more naturally to communicate when we find that people are similar to us. It is so important to find common ground and learn how we are similar in order to build strong relationships. We all have common ground one way or another. -Mary
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteYour comment about avoiding negative judgement is so important. I agree that having a positive mindset leads to us being more productive and just more joyful about what we do. I know I would much rather engage with people who are positive and actually try to avoid people who are continually negative in their communication style.
Carol
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point in the beginning of your post. We all have parents who it is easier for us to communicate with. I agree this is most likely due to having similar cultural backgrounds. Once you become aware of this you can be intentional on finding a way to connect with parents who are from different cultural backgrounds. This will take time and educating yourself on that specific culture along with becoming aware of any biases you may have.
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteThank you for being so honest. It is a fact, we tend to connect more with people who share the same cultural background as ours and are more reluctant to initiate conversation with families who are not of the same culture. The three strategies that you mentioned are all relevant and needed in helping us improve our intercultural competence if we are prepared to engage in open discussion and interpersonal sharing. I really enjoyed your post. Thank you for sharing.
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your post. It was very interesting. I think that it is a good ideal to become a better listener especially when dealing with another culture that way you can learn as much about the culture as you can. Thanks for sharing.