Language competence and cultural competence are two concepts which are inextricably linked. One simply cannot function without the other. In other words, you must be able to interact effectively with people of different cultures in order to adequately acquire a comprehensive understanding of their language. Cultural competency first requires that I understand my own world views and beliefs. I must then obtain knowledge about the culture I’m learning about and simultaneously avoid stereotypes and other negative images which might prevent me from fully grasping the culture. Of course, there may genuinely be aspects of the culture that run counter to my own personal values and/or beliefs. Furthermore, there may be aspects of the culture which make absolutely no sense to me, because they are completely absent from my way of life.
Overcoming obstacles such as these are essential components to acquiring cultural competence. Brazil for instance has a completely different mentality on race relations than what the U.S. has. The United States operates primarily on binary systems of race relations. For example, there are obvious distinctions between those who are “black” and those who are “white.” In America, if you look black, you are black. This means of classification emerged from our nation’s history of the “one-drop rule,” whereby individuals with any amount of African ancestry were considered black.
Brazil’s distinctions on race are not as clear-cut. Brazilians also classify people according to what they look like, but they use a supremely larger number of racial categories. According to the website Psychology Today, one study in the Brazilian northeast conducted by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) – the entity responsible for the census – asked people what color they were, and received 134 different answers!
My mindset of being a black woman in the U.S. therefore had little bearing in Brazil. In Brazil, I was classified in numerous categories including morena/mulatta (brown), negra (black), preta (brown-black), Afro-Brasileira (Afro-Brazilian), pardo (mixed race), and even branca (white) at one point! For in the words of one Brazilian friend, “the perception that you have money as an American ‘whitens’ your skin.” The entire situation was completely foreign to me. In America, you are forced into clear-cut racial lines. In Brazil, these racial lines are dynamic and constantly blur depending on perceptions, economics, and status.
Cultural competence is therefore imperative to understanding the target language and people. It requires patience, understanding, and a willingness to temporarily see the world through different pairs of eyes.
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