The reading Figuring foreigners Out introduce two notions of personal identity. Individualist and collectivist. Individualist values their own happiness above others while collectivist concern about their role in a group. Cultures have both identities, but the problem is the same behavior may have different meanings. We can categorize the nonverbal behaviors into three categories. First is that the behavior means the same in the target culture. Second is that the behavior means different in your target language. The third is that the nonverbal meaning has no meaning in your target language.
People’s conception of time also differs in various cultures. Monochronic means time is limited and quantifiable. Polychronic is that time is unlimited. The biggest cultural differences are probably whether people believe the locus of control comes from internal or external. This may greatly change ones ’perception to the event in life. We can see from the 6-D model of national culture shows that American people tend to be individualism while Asians are more viewed as collectivism. One of the models raises my interest. American tends to have short-term plans while Asians put emphasis on short-term benefits. I agree with this assessment. With the pressure of purchasing an apartment, people in Asian tends to be more focus on the short-term benefit. People work day to night for high pay and therefore lower their standard of living.
I think since Korea and China are all Asian countries, we share a similar value. We have similar working and social environment so the way we use language to describe everyday life can be regarded as highly identical. I think this similarity is a privilege since it would help my language understanding. I would understand the scenarios faster thus have a better language intuition.
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