When it comes to communication, one of the serious hindrances that can stand in the way of people connecting in their different cultural backgrounds the cultural background is one of the major factors contributing to defining a person’s world-view and shaping their values and beliefs. For example, the country I was born in, its customs and traditions, the language I speak, and my religious views have all made me the person I am today. There have been instances in my life where I have interpreted other cultures’ representatives’ behavior through the lens of my own culture – and it resulted in misunderstandings. However, these misunderstandings taught me not to take things at face value and always make certain that I am correct in my interpretations.
In my opinion, the biggest barrier to competent communication between representatives of different cultures is individuals’ lack of desire to be tolerant. Kirschbaum et al. (2017) have defined culture as a “historically shared system of symbolic resources through which we make our world meaningful” (p. 4). In other words, this system is shared historically – that is, passed from generation to generation – and consists of symbolic resources – that is, things are not always evident and easily explained. Therefore, it is only reasonable that people might be unable to understand someone whose culture differs from theirs. However, the actual problem is the unwillingness to accept these differences. I feel like if one shows that they are respectful towards others and are open to learning more about them, any difficulty can be surmounted.
Consequently, the suggestion that I find to be the most beneficial is the suggestion to be respectfully inquisitive. It is the easiest to apply – no time or energy must be spent beforehand in order to ask someone something at the moment. Granted, one has to be careful and polite – but if they master this skill, in addition to making a good impression, they will be able to actually learn something every time they pose a question.
Reference
Kirschbaum, K. A., Hall, B. J., Covarrubias, P. O. (2017). Among cultures: The challenge of communication (3rd ed.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.