Intercultural Communications in Contexts

Around the world there are people of different kinds of religions, beliefs, stories and ways of going through life, this all is wrapped up in one big difference of people around the world and that is one’s culture. Culture helps define people and relate them to others within their culture and differ them from the ones that are not.

Intercultural relationships are more accepted in the twenty first century than they once were. There are greatly many positive aspects to these relationships.

They would be as followed. It was referred by the text of “Intercultural Communications in Contexts” that a major benefit from intercultural relationships is that it allows both of the partners to experience and learn about things about the world that they never had access to learning about before (Martin & Nakayama, ).

Stereotypes are unfortunately still used even in todays world. Another positive aspect of intercultural relationships is that it helps to break those stereotypes and shows the world that not everyone is just like everyone else even in their own culture and that brings a better acceptance of the individual (Martin & Nakayama, ). The text also refers to a term of “relational learning” that claims that through a relationship which involves people of another culture that it is more captivating to learn about that culture and the cultures history from that person then it is to be reading form a book or sitting in a class (Martin & Nakayama, ). To go along with the relationships and learning of the culture, if the couple were to have a child/ren and them being parents from each a different culture they can then raise their child/ren to allow them to grow up with a better understanding and to be more open minded in the world as they grow.

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The text also hinted at the thought that within intercultural relationships of all kinds that it can open the individuals to new ideas, new recipes and new activities to try that they might now have known about before the interaction of another culture (Martin & Nakayama, ). As it has been looked into and learned about the interactions of people of other cultures it is shown to have positive aspects on any individuals lives.

Just as the world turns there are always the good things and there is always a challenge. Intercultural relationships which may hold very beneficial aspects of life to some can to the others bring great challenge into their lives. Just as stereotyping is still an issue even in today’s world and having a relationship between people of different culture can break that stereotype it can also be flipped and affect the relationship in a negative way. If one was to hold a certain stereotype of a certain culture, then that person may not allow the chance to learn from that person and get the gist that not everyone of one culture is the same (Martin & Nakayama, ). Religion can also be a big part of one’s culture and can cause negative feelings between two people of different beliefs. This can affect relationships because there are religions that prohibit being with or marrying someone of a different culture and belief system. That can discourage people from giving chances to those different then them and could help build on to a stereotype.

The text states that being around those of other cultures can cause anxiety among the ones involved (Martin & Nakayama, ). This anxiety can be a negative aspect because when coming in contact of someone of a different culture then their own it can be scary to talk to them and what can and cannot be said. Will that person’s ignorance toward the others culture become an insult due to not knowing or can it lead to uncomfortable moments of silence while trying to figure out what to say or do. With this being stated the thought of what to say and what to not say and how they will react can cause the person anxiety and may force them to avoid the situation and not get the cultural knowledge (Martin & Nakayama, ). Also stated is the extreme care and time devoted to an intercultural relationship. All relationships require work and devotion but those with people from different backgrounds require more work and this can be seen negative to people. The reason why is because it must be explained on what the culture on one differs from the other and what can be compromised and what cannot, what if in their beliefs and what they cannot believe and to create the open space of learning with and from the other person. Some people do not have the time to devote to this type of relationship as it is seen to be an easier relationship when the two people have more in common (Martin & Nakayama, ). Some may be hesitant due to thinking that they are the majority and that opening up a minority will not affect them in a positive light (Martin & Nakayama, ). The text states that some will worry what their friends of their same culture and their parents may feel about the relationship and due to harassment or explanations they will avoid those relationships (Martin & Nakayama, ).

When I try to think about my life and the topics surrounding intercultural communication I think of my personal experiences and how they affect me positively. I believe first that with me going into the field of social work that having an open mind about others and their ways is beneficial at my job, at school and just overall in the community. I think a really positive intercultural communication barrier is that having met people through my internships, especially my one with Hospice. I would enter people’s homes that could be from anywhere and everywhere and I think that even in some of the places that there was a cultural barrier it became a positive because I was willing to listen and learn from those people to better assist them with what they wanted and what they needed. The fact the both myself and the other person saw the barrier and both being able to take the time to understand each other and not jump to conclusions bettered the working relationship for us both. I think of another instance where though there was a barrier it ended up being positive. Being a college student and working at the same time allows you to meet many people from all kinds of places. There have been instances of a student in one of my classes from the Arabian culture that I asked questions and tried to learn from her as the classes went on and through out classes she was asked to share of her background to make more people know about her culture. I find it intriguing to learn about others that are different than me to broaden my horizons and learn the most about the wide variety of people I may help one day.

Just as others I also have challenges in today’s world with cultural barriers. To discuss one challenge that I face with cultural barriers is that I work at a correctional center and of course there are people from all religions, cultures and backgrounds. There are times that I have to come in contact with offenders and if they are of a different culture, or religion or talk another language that can cause a barrier of understanding what they are trying to communicate or what they are taking in to context about you. Again, with being in a prison that barrier can be an issue and sometimes deadly. I say this because if there are offenders that are in a group, whether a religious group or a prison gang, and someone has a hard time understanding or does not know anything about their beliefs and values and culture that could lead to accidental ignorance that can lead to bad circumstances. I would also say that another instance of a cultural barrier that led to a challenge would be the instance of me putting my foot in my mouth when talking to someone I work with that is of a different culture and it became one of those instances that people are talking and joking and its all good fun until you say something that can be offensive to someone of a different culture but with not knowing much of the persons background and culture it doesn’t seem like it was offensive until they tell you and then there is the apology and the moments of learning the new things about that person. Challenges will always come when dealing with so many different cultures, religions, beliefs and values but the willingness to learn and be open minded to others will help turn the barriers into understanding and acceptance for others way of living.

Intercultural relationships will go on and to better the situations dealing with them and around them. It is often said that being open minded helps to understand the other cultures of people different than oneself and that is true but there are other attributes that play into making the barrier dissolve. I believe one of them would be respect. Not only respect for one’s self but also for the other person. Respect to listening to where they are coming from, what they are believing, what their values are, and what their family life is and how they were brought up. Having respect will make it easier to communicate. Also, knowledge an be a positive thing when trying to develop a relationship with a culturally different person. Knowledge will make it easier to understand the other person and make it possible so that when they talk about their lives and background have some common knowledge can show your interest and make them more willing to open up and feel comfortable doing so.