Communicating With Other Cultures Submitted by Robert Owen Salt Lake Community College COMM 1010-056 February 6, 2013

Many aspects of communication are culture specific. How I interact with different cultures can either advance my position or diminish it. Communicating effectively is important in my everyday activities and our society. Without effective communication especially in a multi-cultural environment will cause me angst. I would not want to be the person that offends the president of Zimbabwe with an inappropriate gesture or ask the wrong type of question. Description of Problem: I have many friends from other countries, each speaks a different language and different gestures mean different things. I have probably destroyed the opportunity for some very valuable friendships as a result of my carelessness with my words. In fact the other day I met a group of people from Tonga. They had recently moved from Tonga to Utah, thus they are very intrigued by the recent snowfall. The group of friends took their dads rental truck to the nearest snow bank they could find and managed to high-center it. I was awestricken and started taking pictures with my cell phone. I could not quite get a clear enough picture, so I approach them with my camera and explained I had never seen anything like this before then proceeded to take pictures. With my carelessness and my poor communication I had put myself in a perilous situation. If I fully understood the Tongan culture and what my actions would mean, I would have approached the situation completely different. Resources and Constraints: Resources are abounding for multicultural communications. Browsing through the library I was able to find some resources that are very helpful, and some that are not. I particularly liked some sections of a textbook and power point presentations. As well as several other books. The constraining factors for might be not having a full understanding of a culture. I will strive to learn as much about a culture before fully engaging in a multicultural conversation.

Recommendations: Working in the mental health field I have the opportunity to work with many people from different cultures. I would like to learn as much about the cultures I am engaging with. As the textbook indicates Understanding how culture shapes communication can help you avoid mistaken conclusions about what a certain message means. It also might help you understand more about how you communicate. (Communicating at Work: Strategies for Success in Business and the Professions, 11th Edition, Pg. 34). Looking at the advice from the textbook I need to first understand how the culture shapes communication. I can then avoid sending or receiving mistaken conclusions. Finally communicate more effectively. In my quest to learn about different cultures I have enlisted some of my friends who are members of the particular culture I am seeking information about. I have asked questions about why they believe what they believe and care about certain types of things. In one instance I learned about the life of an immigrant and the challenges the family unit has faced. My friends have guided me to some interesting books and multicultural events. Some of the events that I have attended were very unique and surprising to me. As a result of my research, I have knowingly eaten goat for the first time in my life. I might not have tried goats meat prior to attending a Somalia party where some of the dishes presented were interesting. Learning the nuances and attitudes of a culture is important especially in relation to verbal communication. Understanding how the end of World War 2 affected the people of Japan and how the Attitudes toward conflict also differ from one ethnic co- culture to another. (Communicating at Work: Strategies for Success in Business and the Professions, 11th Edition, Pg. 34). A misplaced comment about the war might discourage civil communications between the two parties. Even though a person from Japan may speak the same language they may have difficulty understanding my particular dialect.

Understanding the culture might help my oral communication not understanding the non-verbal standard will place me in an uncomfortable situation. I worked in a residential unit with children who had disabilities. One of the persons did not communicate using words. He was a non-verbal communicator. He would point and hum at what his desire was. I found this difficult at first because I did not understand is non-verbal cues. INSERT PARAGRAPHS HERE CONCERNING HOW I WILL BETTER MY SKILLS IN NON VERBAL CUES