Week 5: Response to "Cultural Miscommunication" - 10/16/2021

      For the third post in the week, we will discuss Cultural Miscommunication. What seems to be so easy, that actually can cause bad impressions, sometimes problems... As we become a globalized world often, we can see some cross-culture paradigms. Still, we can be so different between our cultures. 

    Here in Brazil, some people brag about how we can change for the better some traditional foreign foods. From the bread, sausage, and mustard from a traditional American hot dog, here they add so many toppings that an American couldn't recognize the food as a Hot dog. The same for other foods. This isn't rude or can't cause a big misunderstanding but like those simple things, there are a lot of others who really can cause a mess. 

    My husband had an American companion once, in his mission. They were in a ward activity and there was this young woman. Often, she touches his arm as they talked. My husband's companion was very serious and suddenly warned him that they were leaving without further notice. Once they were out from the chapel my husband inquired about the reason for leaving so abruptly the activity. The way that they did it is considered extremely rude. Then his companion talked about that young woman. See, we are a warm people, and personal space isn't considered the same as for Americans. This little miscommunication put them in a problem after that. They were considered rude and unpolite among those people. Besides this isn’t a big problem, the members don't want to introduce them to their friends anymore. And I can tell you why. Why should why introduce rude and unpolite people to my friends? As a polychronic country, the members don't want to hurt their friend's feelings. And this is just a short example of how miscommunication can be a bad thing if isn't solved.

    How can we as teachers can help our students? It's impossible to get acquainted with all those non-spoken rules about a culture, but as we teach them about culture in general, we help them to create a growth mindset. They learn that they don't need to be perfect but rather that they can learn from their mistakes. And we can help them to understand that culture learning is a lifelong journey. The culture itself changes every day. We need to update our knowledge according to it.