The main idea behind Figuring Foreigners Out is that people should understand the importance of trying to understand cultural differences in order to have the capability to communicate and adapt much easier. The reason behind trying to build this way of thinking is because people grow up in different cultures with different beliefs and traditions. Therefore when two people from different cultures meet, a lot of the time there would be disagreements. The reading goes into the differences in a spectrum of being individualist and the other point being collectivist and how cultures are always a mixture of both with some leaning more towards one compared to others. Therefore these people would grow up with different ideas of what is normal and acceptable.
I do agree to the statements that were being said in these readings because it is important to try to understand another culture in order to assimilate successfully. For example, last semester I took an IB class called International Business Environment in which we learned the importance of learning the Hofstede Dimensions of Culture for various countries we studied in class. Being a foreigner working in a different country, it is important that we know the other culture in order to look favorable while still making sure that we follow our ethics. This proves to be difficult if for example you are someone coming from a high power distance like Mexico and goes to work to a country with a low power index like Sweden, it will be difficult to adjust since the Swedish employees would not be afraid to talk back to their superiors.
It is also important to note that these indexes are a generalization of an entire culture/ country. For example, I took a quiz in the same class to see where I landed in the spectrum. I found out that my numbers were different from the US, which shows that not everyone will fall under the same numbers. So there could be some discrepancies there.
Using these tools, we are able to see how different we are from someone from our target language. I am an American trying to learn Korean, and as someone who has studied abroad in South Korea for a few months, I can clearly see how different they act compared to me. Using the Hofstede Dimensions of Culture to compare the United States and Korea, I am able to understand better. I can understand better why there are different ways of speaking depending if you are talking to a superior or to a friend.
Replies