5/22/21; Week 05, Response to "Culture Miscomunication".

 A cultural misunderstanding occurs when something—a word, gesture, object, social context, almost anything you can think of—has different meanings in two cultures. Sometimes the misunderstandings get resolved, sometimes they lead nowhere, and sometimes they can escalate to anything from love to war.

Here are some of the most common cultural misunderstandings a person may have to face:

1 - Hand Gestures: Pay attention to your body language when  you are in an unknown company, especially if you in a foreign country. Sometimes, the hand gestures you make can have different meanings than what they had in your country.

2 - Embracing: Embracing is one of the ways to greet in most parts of the world, but not in all parts of the world. There are some countries where trying to embrace might get you embarrassed. For example, in East Asia it’s advised to keep a respectful distance. If you are in a Buddhist country, don’t touch their head because it is considered sacred and if someone touches it is a serious insult to them. In Qatar, men and women are forbidden to publicly embrace one another.

3 - Mind your feet: In many cultures, especially Muslim people, sole of feet are directed very carefully. If you are pointing your feet soles to someone it is like disrespecting them.

4 - No Shoes: There are many places in the world where you must take your shoes off before entering. Masjids and Temples are the common example for this. However, in some cultures you are not even allowed to enter in a house with your shoes on. In the South Pacific or some parts of East Asia, you must remember to remove your shoes before entering a house as a sign of respect and cleanliness.

5 - Using Words Carefully: Words can be sharper than a sword, that's why they should always be used carefully even if you are in homeland. On an international level, they can create a great deal of confusion and awkwardness. Sometimes, wrong pronunciation can cause misunderstanding and often one word may have different meaning in different cultures or countries.

As Teachers, we help students from different cultural backgrounds. This means that misunderstandings can happen, so we have to be very careful and be aware of how we act and what we say. We should create a classroom that is a safe place for them when we solve problems and misunderstandings instead of create them. 

Do you have any experiences with cultural misunderstandings? Let me know in the comments!