My opinion about Cultural Miscommunication

My opinion about Cultural Miscommunication


I've always been curious to know other cultures. When I was a child I remember that my dad had a big book called "Cultures around the world" at first I just looked at the pictures, but little by little I started to read it and it interested me a lot. This week I had the same feeling discovering aspect of different cultures, especially as Americans see us Latin Americans.

Even in Latin America there are cultural differences, the way of communicating in Peru is very different from other countries such as Argentina, Panama, Guatemala, etc. There is also difference within a country, for example I am from Peru and within my country there are many differences such as culture in the jungle with culture in the Andes.

Each culture has different characteristics, however there must be a communication in each of them or with each other, miscommunication as Brother Ivers said, can bring negative consequences such as fights and even wars.

I really like the event that happened in the old testament, I mean the Tower of Babbel. It was a single civilization, a same culture, suddenly everyone spoke different languages, and everyone went their own way, they left with those who spoke their own language, giving way to new cultures.

Today we can see different cultures, and if we have traveled to a different country or even to a different place within our country, we can feel something different. Sometimes we may be uncomfortable cultural differences, because we are not used to it, but it is something that can not get worse, we must understand cultural differences and make good communication between cultures.

My goal as a TESOL instructor should be to motivate students to have a good relationship and communication with other cultures, especially with which they are learning another language.