In this class I learned that the most important aspect in intercultural communication is really being secure in yourself enough to make attempts. It is also important to be educated about other cultures, be empathetic and open to learning new things. It is important not to impose your own beliefs on others. It is also impossible to completely escape your own background, so being cognoscente of the reality of it is important. Knowing about where your experience is coming form and knowing what parts to embrace and what parts to resist is important as well.
My intercultural communication expertise is not spectacular. It isn't horrible either, it's more communication in general that I'm not great with; I'm good with empathy and being willing to accept others and learn form them, it's the self confidence portion that is my issue. I'm not comfortable talking to people that I see everyday, with the exception of very close friends. I am really terrified about making a mistake talking to anyone and alienating them. I am actively working on this and know it's a real problem. Academic discussions are a different story, if that's the venue I get very intensely involved. Face to face, I am a really good listener that part I've got down and really care about people; but, I tend to be very unsure when it comes time to talk. When I initiate a topic, it always seems to be received with silence or you think too much; so, I really don't know what to say in conversations. If the other person initiates the topic then the convesrations tend to go great.
Basically what I need to do to improve is to just step out of my comfort zone and engage in more conversations. For sure there will be failures, but I will never get any better if I don't actually get over my shyness and talk. Also, something that is important in general is to never stop learning, because the second that complacency about one's abilities is gained then they tend to stagnate. Another thing that I can do is to travel more, staying in the same environment minimizes the opportunities that I will have to meet new people, and limits how much I can learn. I have always wanted to travel internationally, so the first step there would be to get a passport and save up money to be able to travel. I think my first stop would be Japan, I already study it's history a lot and I am trying to learn Japanese. Before, intentional travel I would like to live in a large metropolitan area, as it would be a good opportunity to meet a wide array of people.
What are the most important things that you learned form this class?
How do you feel that it was impacted by the electronic format?
Although knowing this already, I learned that how I say things is important. Sometimes it's hard to put yourself in others' shoes and hear how it sounds to them. That also plays into your second question. While the electronic format is good in teaching the non-tech savvy students, me, how to acclimate to new situations, it reminds of the value of face-to-face interaction. I sometimes found it hard to express myself on sensitive issues. It is harder to express, and sense in others, sincerity in tone through text. It would be interesting to be able to see how this class differs when it is online and in person.
ReplyDeleteYou could go to the cities? They probably have a higher Japanese population, too.
I gained a greater awareness of other cultures, including even my own. I feel more capable of better, more effective communication now, than before this course. Having the online discussions allows for messages to be misinterpreted. I just think it’s important for students to keep that in mind. Although it falls short in that fashion, it’s also a great way to communicate because you have time to process classmates’ thoughts before you respond to the ideas they’ve presented.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it was good that I realized so many varieties among different cultures and even among each individuals. I think I became more tolerant with differences. Online class was good for me because I can take it from back in my home country, but I also wish I could talk with you guys face to face so that we could get to know each other better.
ReplyDeleteI learned how to express and be more open minded to other cultures. There are so many things we can learn from other cultures and I dont think we always realized that.
ReplyDeleteI liked the online format, it was easy and fit well with my busy schedule. But I also thought it would have been a really fun class to do in a class room setting. I feel we could have had really good discussions.