My intercultural communication at school Essay

My ESL classes at Heald College took six months and these were necessary requirements so that I could pursue major courses in Architecture. There were other students like me from other countries and it felt well-grounded to belong to a group that was being taught the American way of life and finale. It felt good because it gave me the feeling that I was not al angiotensin-converting enzyme in my hardships. It did not feel so bad and odd being with a group struggling with nuances of the side of meat language and pronunciation and the idiosyncrasies of American nicety.While I considered myself an out-group when I was with natural-born Americans, I felt like a member of an in-group when I was with the foreign students. Probably, this feeling springs from the point that one naturally feels out of place when all others behave and talk in a different way. There is some comfort gained from knowing that one is just like the others. My struggle to fit in was at times frustrating, as I co uld not be properly understood by the instructor on account of misplaced accents or outright mispronunciations.At first I really felt stupid when the teacher would rephrase my statement and ask if it was what I meant. When I would say it was not what I meant, another classmate would stillt in with a genuine intention to help me out but I would end up all the much confused and misunderstood. Realizing the setbacks of my lack of facility with the language, I resolved more than ever to master the English language. My Intercultural converse at Work Working as a busboy and later, as a waiter in a restaurant gave me the chance to encounter more people and gain more facility with the English language.Finding work was quite an exhilarating experience for me. I felt that I could already advertise my ideas clearly and so I gained more confidence. Of course, there were still some instances when some patrons would fail to understand how I pronounce my words but whenever much(prenominal) a thing happened, I would remember the word and practice saying it correctly when I got home. I had discarded my Dari-English dictionary and I could already get hold of on a conversation with a native speaker of American English without fumbling for the right word or halting.I once attempt to be friendly with other waiters hoping to generate deeper camaraderie spell we were up and just about with our tasks. To my horror, I found that Americans seem to be single-minded and so cerebrate when they go about their work that banter is misconstrued as not being serious about work. From then on, I learned to be very business-like while doing my work, bearing in mind that I was not working in an Afghan setting Conclusion This profound reflection on my sojourn in America has made me realize a lot of things that I once took for granted.First, I realized that I possess the resilience and tenacity that is a earmark of a true Afghan. I used to take for granted the lore and history that cod to the Afghan experience of a succession of foreign invasions, Afghans ar by nature strong in spirit and character. Indeed, it is no easy task for an 18-year-old boy to force himself to become an adult almost overnight due to peculiar personal circumstances. I realized too that exposure to another culture widens ones horizons and makes one more tolerant of other people.Assimilation into another culture truly begins and is facilitated by an earnest desire to learn the language to a level that one speaks it like one born into the language itself. Together with this is a keen sense of awareness of the seemingly insignificant cultural differences between ones culture of origin and the host culture. Cultural sensitivity, if I whitethorn use the term, enables one to steer clear of problematic situations. Indeed, it is not always wise to act and behave according to ones cultural penchant when one is in another cultural setting.My intercultural communication with the Peterson family was at first regulated by cues from the reactions of Mr. Peterson. I came to know what he disliked by detect how he reacted. Yet, the sincere sharing of cultural traditions was the factor that truly made our relationship rise up to a higher level. Mutual respect and soul resulted from the open sharing and this could not have happened by merely observing each others reactions. Truly, if one wants to have a meaningful intercultural communication, it moldiness begin with an honest sharing of culture and traditions.It makes it possible to view the other person from their own cultural perspective. The snatch I stopped my automatic equivalence of Afghan and American values whenever I encountered an unfamiliar cultural practice, I became more accepting of American culture. As Holliday, Hyde and Kullman advise, Put aside simplistic notions about what is real and unreal in your perception of another culture, and appreciate that every society is as complex and culturally varied as your own.(1 0) The moment I began to have this attitude in my attempt to fully integrate myself into American society, I whitethorn have taken the first step towards intercultural competency. Alred and Byram (2002) define intercultural competence as the ability to behave appropriately in intercultural situations. the ability to stabilize ones self-identity while mediating between cultures (340). I may have taken the first step but I still have a long way to go. All people regardless of culture have the innate need to feel a sense of belongingness.I am sure this is the reason why I felt at lull with my fellow Afghans as I did with other foreign students who were struggling to deal with language difficulties. Yet, once a genuine intercultural communication is initiated, it leads one to learn and inquire at the diversity and richness of all cultures around the world.Works Cited Alred, Geof and Mike Byram. Becoming an Intercultural Mediator A Longitudinal Study of Residence Abroad. Journal of mu ltilingual and Multicultural Development 23. 5 (2002).Retrieved from http//www. multilingual-matters. net/jmmd/023/jmmd0230339.htm on April 25, 2007. Holliday, Adrian, Martin Hyde, and John Kullman. Intercultural Communication An Advanced Resource Book. New York Routledge, 2004. Questia. 25 Apr. 2007 . Robson, Barbara, Juliene Lipson with Farid Younos and Mariam Mehdi. Afghans Their History and Culture, Cross-Cultural and Adjustment Challenges, produce by the Center of Applied Linguistics, The Cultural Orientation Resource Center last updated 6/30/02. Retrieved from http//www. cal. org/co/afghan/acult. html on April 25, 2007.