Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Miscellaneous INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION Intercultural communication is commonly explained as an interaction between people of “different cultures whether defined in terms of racial, ethnic or socioeconomic differences.” Human communication consists of verbal and nonverbal messages (language and gestures) which are shaped by gender, social class or culture. Thus, what perimeters define the intercultural exchange and what primary messages do we need or try to convey? Our communication process or the way we attribute symbolic meanings to words and gestures, in order to express ourselves is shaped by the society in which we evolve. This shared use of codes within a given group of persons, also leads to a common philosophy of life, ideas or morals. Therefore, culture to a certain extent, shapes our thoughts in different fashions in spite of the fact that we have common biological or emotional needs and therefore, common responses to certain stimuli. In addition, various societies are now stratified in classes inside which, groups create and develop other codes. Each subgroup sustains its values and tradition through language and rites creating multicultural interactions. Hence, the human communication process cannot be held for homogenous, even inside the same society because factors like race, gender or social class will slightly modify this pattern. Last summer, I spent one month in Quito, Ecuador and one week on the island Anaconda in the Amazonian Forest. This was my first experience in Latin America and I have been able to see two very different part of the Ecuadorian culture. In Quito, people speak Spanish, live in the capital and are from mixed descent (Spanish- Indian) while Anaconda’s population is mainly Indian, speaks Quichua (Ecuador’s second national language) and lives in the jungle. I had the chance to immerse myself in both environments because I was staying in a host family in Quito and in a traditional habitation in Anaconda. Although Latin American countries like Ecuador are defined as “Third World” due to their economical level the lifestyle in Quito, for instance, follows more or less the pattern we know in this part of the world. People, drive to work, eat out and children go to school. However, this system functions with different values, customs or schedule. I spent four weeks in Quito at the Spanish Academy to take transfer credits in this language. During this time period I lived with an Ecuadorian family that is the parents and their two daughters, which allowed me to interact with them on a daily basis. The father, Ramon works in the United States and Marcella, 18, the eldest daughter attends college in Quito where she studies medicine. I found it easy to interact with Marcella because our age difference is not big and we are both college students. In addition she is a girl and we could discuss topics that are relevant to our gender, such as fashion or dates. The fact that this family educational level does not greatly differ from mine helped our communication, and shaped the messages we were exchanging. We were able to discuss many topics from politics to sociological and although they are from a different culture, our views were not radically opposites. However, the pace at which the Ecuadorian society develops made it difficult for me to explain them clearly what I am studying. For instance, they could not figure what jobs I would have later with a public communication major, since the communication sector is not as advanced as the ones in the United States or in Europe. Thus, in this particular case it was not their social class or their culture that made the difference, rather the time at which their society as a whole develops. I also had the chance to interact with men and women from different backgrounds, mainly teachers from the Academy. Since I can speak Spanish it was not difficult for me to bond with people and make friends. Thus, I did what people my age do in any city of the world and went out for dinners or drinks in restaurants and bars. Although I know that women are perceived differently in Latin America and was careful about by behavior, I have not been able to avoid some errors. For instance I did not realize to what extend girls’ freedom in this culture is limited, despite of the fact that they go out and enjoy themselves. The fact that I am Swiss excused my behavior, but due to my appearance (dark hair) and my knowledge of the language many persons thought I was local. This made it difficult for them to excuse at first my independent behavior. The interaction I had with people in Anaconda was completely different because their lifestyle has nothing in common with ours or even with the one in Ecuadorian cities. Anaconda is a small island on the Rio Napo, in the Amazonian on which there is electricity only four hours a day and no contact with the outside world. That means that there is no phone, no television, no cars and no hot water on the island. The island belongs to Don Jorge a gentleman from the country who allows people working for him to live on his property. Hence, three families inhabit Anaconda and work at the ‘guests huts.’ The Indians on the island live in huts that they build themselves and get their food from the natural surroundings. I met the ones that worked at the ‘hotel’ and that spoke Spanish. Their life is about survival and it was not so easy to talk with them because my life and interests seemed so futile compared to the reality they experience every day. I became friend with Osvaldo, the cook, because I was always asking what was for dinner, which is a tangible topic. The fact remains that we could not share much about our respective lives to build a friendship and we had to focus on what was real. Indeed, Indians people are very proud and do not talk much. The night before I left, Osvaldo told me something in Quichua, which I could not understand and I asked him to translate in Spanish and he said “so, tomorrow you are leaving?” This simple sentence seems normal out of context, but coming from Osvaldo who did not share the Western habit of small talk it meant a lot. This cross-cultural experience showed me that when people share a common system, which can be education or social class, the messages conveyed are more varied. According to Joseph Shimron in his analysis about children communication skills in different social classes, linguistic development does not occur the same way in lower and higher classes. Children from lower social classes were found to be less effective communicators than the ones in middle classes. In addition, the content of the messages was also studied and the results were that class plays a role in the way one communicates. Furthermore, one’s culture shapes the way one expresses thoughts and feelings as I saw it with Osvaldo. According to a survey conducted by Wierzbicka with Japanese, Malay, Polish and Yankunytjatjara (Pama-Nuygan) people, she demonstrates those cross-cultural differences in the forms of expression, or the use of silence. However, her approach is based on similarities in the examination of the variation in speeches and the results of this study are expressed on a scale rather than as definite facts. In addition, people who share a common system are more likely to attribute the same meaning to certain words, although this is particularly true for sciences, it is relevant to other fields and situations. The experience I had in Quito enabled me to perceive the way thought process could vary due to one’s own culture. Furthermore, many parameters influence the messages we send and the way we send them. According to one’ social background and education level or our interlocutor’s, we will express ourselves differently. The fact that a common structure, for example college, is shared with someone helps to erase communication obstacles. Furthermore, criteria like manners are also defined according to classes and this shared meaning of codes often transcends cultural differences. However, words and the meaning they stand for are intrinsic to a language and this is always subjective. In spite of the arbitrary definition of a word in a given language, human feelings remain the common denominator of most exchanges. This is the basis on which messages can be exchanged and understood between people from different cultures, gender or race. In addition, tangible things or situations are easier to discuss with someone from a completely different culture. The message we convey become basic in this case, and generally express first needs. Bibliography: Word Count: 1438
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