How to Understand and Admire Cultural Differences
Seek out experiences, foods, and people who seem foreign to you when they come to town., Expand your media diet to include other cultures., Invite other cultures into your home., Learn a new language., Remember that even similar people have cultural...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Seek out experiences
In almost every single instance, the only thing required to bridge cultural differences is an introduction.
This isn't always easy, but the best thing to do is make an effort
-- go to the international folk music festival, eat in a restaurant where English isn't the first language, and say hello to the new family down the street.
Local colleges and universities frequently bring in speakers, artists, and musicians from across the globe, and events are frequently free. -
Step 2: and people who seem foreign to you when they come to town.
Even broadening your television palate can help admire cultural differences.
Travel documentaries and news from foreign countries, even just the BBC, will give you a much broader worldview from home.
Check out some music in another language from the library, read a book that has been translated, and pay attention to world news, not just American.
No one can understand or pay attention to everything.
Follow your interests, looking into and enjoying the new cultures and ideas that spark your interest. , You can accept travelers or sponsor exchange students.
Some people open their homes with apps like Air BnB, while others might work through a church or charity to help provide for new immigrants and traveling groups.
Even easier, you can simply invite people from other cultures over for dinner.
The best way to understand and admire cultural differences is over food and friendship, so extend an olive branch.
Try a cultural potluck, where everyone must bring food representative of their culture.
Start a music exchange, giving each other the favorites from each culture and then comparing.
Get in touch with your local Rotary club to ask about opportunities to host people from other cultures. , Language is much more than a simple one-to-one translation from English to something else
-- it shows how people think, exposes nuances in cultures and people, and allows you to get much closer to understanding and acceptance of complex cultural ideas.
There are many words that cannot be translated smoothly, instead gaining power in their native language and context.
These words, such as the Senegalese word "Tauranga," are often those that best illustrate the unique culture in which they were formed. , You don't have to fly across the ocean to experience different cultures and ideas.
Even families across the street have cultural histories and practices that date back through their roots.
Communities in the same cities even have markedly different cultural backgrounds.
Have you experienced the life of those in the "worse" parts of town? Do you know how the upper crust lives in the rich side of town? Don't limit yourself to only those cultures that seem very different
-- the best way to expand your horizons is to start at home. -
Step 3: Expand your media diet to include other cultures.
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Step 4: Invite other cultures into your home.
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Step 5: Learn a new language.
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Step 6: Remember that even similar people have cultural differences worth learning about.
Detailed Guide
In almost every single instance, the only thing required to bridge cultural differences is an introduction.
This isn't always easy, but the best thing to do is make an effort
-- go to the international folk music festival, eat in a restaurant where English isn't the first language, and say hello to the new family down the street.
Local colleges and universities frequently bring in speakers, artists, and musicians from across the globe, and events are frequently free.
Even broadening your television palate can help admire cultural differences.
Travel documentaries and news from foreign countries, even just the BBC, will give you a much broader worldview from home.
Check out some music in another language from the library, read a book that has been translated, and pay attention to world news, not just American.
No one can understand or pay attention to everything.
Follow your interests, looking into and enjoying the new cultures and ideas that spark your interest. , You can accept travelers or sponsor exchange students.
Some people open their homes with apps like Air BnB, while others might work through a church or charity to help provide for new immigrants and traveling groups.
Even easier, you can simply invite people from other cultures over for dinner.
The best way to understand and admire cultural differences is over food and friendship, so extend an olive branch.
Try a cultural potluck, where everyone must bring food representative of their culture.
Start a music exchange, giving each other the favorites from each culture and then comparing.
Get in touch with your local Rotary club to ask about opportunities to host people from other cultures. , Language is much more than a simple one-to-one translation from English to something else
-- it shows how people think, exposes nuances in cultures and people, and allows you to get much closer to understanding and acceptance of complex cultural ideas.
There are many words that cannot be translated smoothly, instead gaining power in their native language and context.
These words, such as the Senegalese word "Tauranga," are often those that best illustrate the unique culture in which they were formed. , You don't have to fly across the ocean to experience different cultures and ideas.
Even families across the street have cultural histories and practices that date back through their roots.
Communities in the same cities even have markedly different cultural backgrounds.
Have you experienced the life of those in the "worse" parts of town? Do you know how the upper crust lives in the rich side of town? Don't limit yourself to only those cultures that seem very different
-- the best way to expand your horizons is to start at home.
About the Author
Cheryl Davis
A passionate writer with expertise in home improvement topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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