Unit 5

Unit 5 has a lot of information. It touched an a lot of problems that causes a lot of a break down in intercultural communication. It talks about stereotyping, prejudice, and racism. All of these topics cause tension when intercultural communication takes place. Many of them can be applied when you are not even aware that you are doing it. Our book also talks about ethnocentrism. This is when we see our culture as superior and above everyone else. The book also tells us that one of the most important things in intercultural communication, is knowing ourselfs. We also need to learn to have empathy towards others and their cultures. Another thing that we need to do when communicating with other cultures is learn how to adapt our views and realize that they are not always the only ones.

Unit 4

This unit had a lot of information. It touched on so many interesting subjects. It was interesting to read about how different cultures do things differently when it comes to business dealings. It was also interesting to read about how culture influences education. I guess that I have never really looked at school as a means of "passing history and traditions from generation to generation" (Samovar 256). I just always saw it as something that we did everyday to gain knowledge to prepare us for the workforce, not for a place to learn our cultural traditions. In chapter 10, we learned about how different cultures deal with medical conditions. This was very interesting. I think that Americans have a combination of Scientific/Biomedical System and the Alternative health care system. Most of us believe in going to the doctor and taking their advise and medications that they prescribe. We also believe in prayer. Many of us also try different vitamins, seek counseling, and try relaxation techniques. All of the information that we learned in unit 4 was very interesting.

Unit 3

I enjoyed this unit. This unit focused a lot on nonverbal communication and the meaning of different types of communication. There were many things that I learned and found interesting in this unit. Tentativeness, for example, I do think that woman tend to do this more often, but men do also. There are times that men just want to state their opinion or give their knowledge, and you can tell that they are not looking for any more conversation. However, at least the men that I am around, tend to end at least half of their conversations with questions. I also found it interesting that time is considered a form of non-verbal communication. After I read the chapter, it made sense, but I would have never classified it as nonverbal communication. I think that it would be weird to live in Latin America. How could you ever make a doctors appointment if you are expected to arrive late as a sign of respect. What would be the point of having an appointment time? In our area, if you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, you have to reschedule and you're charged for that visit. I also thought that the different meanings of silence were strange. For example, in Japan if a woman is silent after a marriage proposal, that is her way of accepting. In Igbo, if a woman is accepting a marriage proposal, she runs away. It is just so neat to read how different cultures interpret things so differently.

Unit 2

This unit focused on several different types of identities and religions. I find it interesting to study other religions. I am a Christian and I am grounded in my believes, so it is interesting to read about why others believe what they do. I was surprised that Islam is the fastest growing religion. Chapter 4 dealt with identity and the different aspects that go along with it. I find cyber and fantasy identity really weird. I am also taking a womans study course and we have discussed this in their also. I guess a lot of people who have gender confusion use this as a way to be someone else. This was definitely an interesting chapter, I enjoy reading about why people are the way they are.

Unit 1

So, as we finish out unit 1 and do our questions, it makes me reflect on what I have learned through the first unit. We have learned about the influences that our family, religion, world views, etc., have on the way we view our culture. We discussed why we think that culture is based so much upon these things. Of course, we all understand that family and religion play such a large role because they are what we are comfortable with. But, one thing that I read in one of the chapters that I found so interesting was that an adopted child, who thought that because he was from a certain country he shared the same culture, found that a child, although raised in the U.S. like himself, that had parents from his foreign country, actually did not share the same culture that he did. His culture was shaped around his family, which was from the U.S. I found this so interesting since I have five African American children. I am sure that their culture and beliefs are different than that of a child being raised with two African American parents. Not that this is a bad thing, in fact they may be getting the best of two worlds. We try to teach them things about their culture and history, but we have never lived in an African Americans shoes. So they learn about their history through talk and information, but see our culture and history through our daily walk and talk. I guess this gives them two views on life, I guess we will see if as adults they combine the two cultures for their children, or if they lean towards one or the other.