105 Reflection 2:
Summarize some of the main ideas behind Figuring Foreigners Out and the Hofstede Dimensions of Culture. Do you predominantly agree with these assessments? Are there any statements, generalizations, and opinions expressed in the reading that you find problematic? How do these ideas relate both to your own native culture, and the target culture associated with the language you are studying?
This article is really interesting because it gives definitions and terminology to a lot of concepts that I notice and analyze daily in my own life. I often feel like my cultures as an American and Eritrean directly contradict each other. In each category, I saw that a dichotomy between my American and Eritrean Cultures.
In Eritrea we are collectivists, while in America we are individualists.
In Eritrea have a polychronic time while in America we have a monochronic one.
In Eritrea there is an external worldview, largely due to theist influences. In American culture, I see a widely internal change oriented worldview. In regards to communication, I find that I can’t say the same thing in English as I can in Tigrigna or it seems wordy, and vice versa it might sound curt, because of the culture of indirect and direct communication. The article also made a point to say one culture isn’t fully one way or another, which is a good point. It failed to mention the layers of the concepts outside of the dichotomy, the different ranges and mixes that there may be in attempts to simplify the article. However, overall in reading this article, I appreciated how it explained the concepts in a very simple way and didn’t unnecessarily elaborate.
Comments