I do find myself communicating differently with various
people outside of my immediate culture. I aim to respect their culture yet that
is limited to what I know about them. I
mostly attempt to communicate with the respect for their humanity, their
rights, their feelings and their perspectives. Granted I tend to blurt out
various things that may not be sensitive or culturally responsive, but this is
an area I am continually working on. While communicating I avoid stereotypes
and clichés, I work to hold in my strong beliefs and opinions. I also try to
listen to what and how they are communicating to provide me with clues to their
thoughts and feelings. I probably do
this ‘more reflective communication’ with people from different cultures than
myself because I simply am not that familiar or knowledgeable of who they are
and where they come from. Those in my immediate family and immediate social
groups I speak more without thinking first, not always the best way to
communicate regardless of my comfort. I may get myself in more trouble while
communicating with those closest to me.
I agree that this is such a difficult thing to recognize and change in ourselves. As with many other things, I think it is best if we set realistic goals for ourselves, and to start by just being more aware of what we say and how we say it, and be a good observers of how our words and non-verbal communication is received by others.
ReplyDeleteCassie
ReplyDeleteI think if we worry too much about cultural insensitivity we end up making more mistakes. There is a big difference between making an error because you did not know something about someone's culture and doing something out of cultural bias.
~Lora