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?
I liked how the reading broke down things into four categories of understanding. I feel like I am too used to seeing only individualist versus collectivist comparisons that often erase other differences like the ones mentioned in the article: indirect vs. direct, internal vs. external, and monochronic vs. polychronic. However, I still take issue with the generalizing notion that these discussions promote other cultures because they are just an aggregate on a population and most people will not fall into the average values or temperament that we expect from their culture. Especially because inside of these “collectivist” cultures they have their own unique terms and subcultures for individuals who express their culture differently. Promoting analysis of these well defined boxes may give foreigners the wrong impression of a culture, and promote ignorance when they travel and engage with the subject culture.
Despite this I clearly understand that we need to generalize and categorize when researching and interpreting cultures and they have a lot of useful information. I thought that the monochronic and polychronic distinction was particularly interesting and valuable because it doesn’t encourage any understanding of individuals in a culture as a certain way, but does prompt analysis and reflection on your own sense of time. Particularly I thought that the US and Korea do have monochronic understandings despite having more general differences on the other three categories. But I would argue that France is a much more polychronic culture as they have a different relationship with working hours than either the US or Korea. Hofstede does acknowledge that it is a spectrum, and this acknowledgment is key in my opinion to making more responsible generalizations about a culture.
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