I am a pure Chinese student ----born in China, grow in China, and will also live in China in the future. I choose to exchange to National University of Singapore this semester, to develop a better understanding of different cultures in the world.
I have a American friend named Robert. We are on a same class. I’ve noticed that he likes to lift his right leg on the seat in front of him and seldom brings & reads books in the classroom. Besides, he likes to walk on the seats along to go out after class, which I believe is not the common behavior for American students. I mentioned this during one of our talks after lab. He just said “it’s ok and that doesn’t matter”. However, I think his behavior didn’t show much respect to the lecturer.
I realize there is cultural difference here. In China, students will always sit neatly in an orderly fashion during class. Almost nobody sits on the table or lifts his leg on the table, which is considered to be impolite and will lead to unaccepted by others. So Chinese students may care more before they do things different from what they have seen before. Thus, they tend to have a conservative personality and are not encouraged to come up with strange ideas. (Situation is changing due to the development of China)
However, in America, both teachers and students are free in class. They can either sit on the table or lean on a desk. They can also raise any question whenever they like. Privacy is stressed in American culture so people tend to have more individual characters. They like to behave differently, will(spelling error) which can capture more attention, also lead to many creative ideas.
As I think of this, I have better understanding of his behavior. Besides, we also talk about many other cultural differences. Now we are good friends and I enjoy the communication a lot.
What I am trying to make clear is that we should put ourselves in other’s position during our intercultural communication, and be a good listener & learner to understand different cultures better. We needn’t to avoid the intercultural communication. Be active and try to enjoy it. After all, there still exist a lot of things in common between different cultures.
re-edited in different color
re-edited in different color
Hi Brooks!
ReplyDeleteLike you have mentioned, I believe the situation is changing across the geographical boundaries. Students are doing exchange programmes all over the world nowadays, and they get a change to see and experience what the local students do during lessons.
When they bring these experiences back upon returning to their country, they could subconsciously influence their peers and this cycle goes on.
Hi Brooks!
ReplyDeleteI kind of agree with you. Regardless of cultural difference, I believe everyone should learn to respect the different cultures among other individuals.
Hi, Brooks
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we need to have a U-attitude in communications, especially intercultural communications. Trying to be a good listener and learner is crucial in intercultural communications. With that attitude, we will not only avoid intercultural conflicts but also start to enjoy learning different cultures.
By the way, I noticed that today is your birthday. QQ reminded me of that. Happy birthday!
Hi Brooks,
ReplyDeletebefore college, our backgrounds are the same, and now i also have some similar experiences and feelings with you.
it's true that Chinese culture emphasizes etiquette in class, and students' behaviors in class are ruled, but their thoughts are not. and i think so far it functions well, and we may not want to see what will happen if all Chinese students behave like American students in class, right? i don't think American education system will apply in China.
i agree with you that effective intercultural communication requires respect, and consideration. we may enjoy it by finding something in common.
Hi Brooks,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting point that you have brought up. Difference in culture sometimes extend to how students relate to their teachers, and you have illustrated it well. =)
However, i still think that if the American is in Asian country, it will be better if he observes Asian culture and sit more politely. It may not matter for him, but I think his prof will appreciate it because it shows that the student bothers .
=)
This is an interesting post, Brooks, but I would say that we have to be very careful about characterizing American culture or the American education system from the example of one American student acting naughty here in Singapore. Might we judge all Chinese students by the act of one student? What if that student is abnormal, and what if the actions of that person are an aberration?
ReplyDeleteThe problem here is "overgeneralizing" from the behavior of one to the behavior of many. From Robert's behavior you jump to this conclusion: "...in America, both teacher and students are free in class." I would say it is true that American classrooms, whether in primary school, secondary school, or in the university, might *generally* reveal certain norms of open discussion and interaction, but "free" is a very broad term. How free is free? Even I would be offended by your friend Robert's walking on the chairs.
You also state "Privacy is stressed in American culture so people tend to have more individual characters." What does that mean? I understand that privacy is the protection of one's own affair from outside scrutiny, but I'm not sure how that affects "individual character" development. You might explain this.
Don't get me wrong on these issues, Brooks. I'm not criticizing you for being critical of Robert. I just think you need t be careful about making conclusions about an entire society and culture based on one individual's values and behaviors.
There are also a number of language problems in this post:
1) They like to behave differently will can capture more attention... >>> ?
2) Besides, we also talk many other cultural differences. >>> Besides that, we also talk about many other cultural differences.
3) ...and seldom listens with books on his hands. >>> ?
4) We needn’t to avoid the intercultural communication. >>> We needn’t avoid the intercultural communication.
5) In China, students will always sit neatly during class. >>> In China, students will always sit in an orderly fashion during class.
Thanks for this provocative post!
Hi Yongfeng!
ReplyDeleteI think it is true. We exchange students surely learn a lot about different culture, which drives us to know more about our own culture and about how to improve it. I will of course share with my friends about my exchange experience, which I think gives us a lot of inspiration to help improve ourselves.
:-)
Hi Riyan!
ReplyDeleteI think respectation is very important during an intercultural communication. The point is that we should notice the different part and reflect respectly to it at the right time & place.
:-)
Hi Liu Long!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your bless! :-)
I do think U-attitude is vital. But it is not so easy to do with U-attitude all the time. During my intercultural communication, sometimes I tend to assume something based on my own knowledge. But it may not be the case sometimes. We should try to think in other people's positions with the application of our knowledge of their culture. We will learn a lot~
:-)
Hi Senlin!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your suggestions!
It is thue that we can't apply the American education system completely to China, which is not practical at all. However, the current education system in China still has much space to improve, so that students are to be more motivated to express their own ideas and to try to realize them. During the intercultural communication, what we need do is not copying, but understanding and improving ourselves according to our own condition.
:-)
Hi Sheila!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. When we are in Rome, we should do what Romens do. It can also help us adapt to the new environment better. However, during an intercultural communication, what we can do is to understand and to suggest, which will contribute to a better communication.
:-)
Hi Brad!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your good comments!
I think I haven't made some points clear in this post. The so-called conclusion is acturally from some articles/books or comments of other people, instead of my own thought inspired by Robert. To some extent, it may even be a common sense among many Chinese. However, it can be wrong, for no scientific experiment has been made to prove the conclusion. So what this post does is not proving this conclusion, but in a way, to verify it. I should have mentioned this in the post.
So from this view of this, we can understand why I use vague words like 'free'. The point I want to make is just an impression and it is just the result of comparing with the situation in China. I think this may be another cultural difference. Chinese can stand/tolerate vague words in many cases, while westerners will always make it more accurate. :-)
As for your 3rd paragraph, what I mean is that privacy protection will give children less chance to know what others do and what most people think about, which may make them do more individually. I think your opinion is right. These two can also be juxtaposition.
Thank you for your pointing out my language problems. Some of them are only caused by my carelessness. I will try to make it more accurate. :-)
Thank you for your helpful comment!
:-)
Thanks, Brooks, for taking the time to reply to me and to make the changes in the text.
ReplyDeleteI think we clarified a lot in class today, and you make your post stringer by the changes.
It would not a typical example but enough to shed some lights on the function of education in two countries. It is not really about culture but about the expectation from education. They promote to study and think by and for yourself instead of scheduling all what you should know from this school. It is more guidance to your own exploration and individual variance and diversity are appreciated instead of unifying and putting everyone in the same model. All of these would contribute to the difference in the attitudes and thinking mode of students. It is important for which is a better education model, both have the advantages and drawbacks in some sense.
ReplyDelete