Respond to Peers:Review your classmates' posts and try to find some common ground or to expand on the students' ideas. Use the text to extend your points about culture and communication. Ask questions that will improve everyone's understanding of the importance of culture. Respond to at least two of your classmates' posts. Response posts must be 125 to 200 words in length. If you have questions about how to participate in discussions, consult About Discussions under the Course Home menu.

Nina Butler

Define culture and explain why it is important to understanding communication

Culture is more of an identity. Identity influences how we communicate with each other. Our communication with others can influence our identity. Culture is a learned behavior such as beliefs and values. There is no right or wrong why when dealing with culture because everyone tends to be different in their kind way. "Culture is communication and Communication is culture" according to our textbook Bevan and Sole (2014). Communication and culture can be tough because judgment can affect the way people communicate. Ranging from the kind of clothing a person wears from the why that person speaks, the kind of food they eat. Remembering that all cultures are different and no culture will ever be the same. Having respect and keeping an open mind is the ideal way of understanding another person's culture.

Describe your own culture.

I was born and raised in New York City which is a very diverse place, also known as the melting pot. I must say that New York City has shaped me into a person, that can relate to any culture and adapt without any problems. Every one of my friends that I went to school with from kindergarten up until high school was from a different cultural background. Which for me was very fun and exciting because I had the opportunity to learn about many cultures without having to go aboard ranging from languages, music different kinds of food, clothing, and religion.

Explain how culture impacts how you communicate with others, including those from different cultures

Culture has a great impact on the way I communicate with others because I respect that people live differently and have different values, knowledge, notions of time, attitudes, roles, material objects, possessions, experience, beliefs, meanings, religion, then I do.

References

Bevan, J. L., & Sole, K. (2014). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication (2nd ed.) [Electronic version].

Katie Anderson

Define culture and explain why it is important to understanding communication.

Our textbook describes culture as a "relatively specialized set of traditions, beliefs, values, and standards of behavior that have been passed down from generation to generation by way of communication" (Bevan & Sole, 2014, Ch. 3.1). Culture is a way for us to express who we are as an individual. Communication among different cultures can be difficult. Whether it be a language barrier, clothing, customs, communicating can prove to be challenging. It is important to remember that we should respect a person's culture. Things that are normal in your culture, maybe insulting in another culture. For example, in the Muslim culture, women are not allowed to speak unless spoken to and not in the presence of a man. This would make communicating with someone from this culture very difficult if you were a male. It is very easy to accidently cause offense when parts of a culture are very different from your own.

Explain how understanding and assessing culture can improve your own communication.

By understanding a person's culture, I can respect their customs and show them great respect by honoring their customs while communicating. For example, I was raised in a traditional southern Baptist Christian faith. Women were not allowed to wear pants in the church as it was disrespectful. I had friends who were not of my faith and yet when they came to church with me they honored my culture. Learning to respect someone's culture even if it is different from your beliefs, will allow you to communicate in different ways thus strengthening how you communicate.

Describe your own culture and share with us what makes you who you are. Your culture can be related to your race, ethnicity, gender, age, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, media preferences, hobbies, religion, etc. Try not to focus on just one of these aspects of yourself, but instead utilize as many cultural elements as possible. Think about both style (how you speak) and content (what interests you).

I am a 35- year- old, heterosexual, southern, Caucasian woman. I like to read, spend time with my family. I believe in God and that there is a heaven and a hell. I have an open mind and am not afraid to speak my mind when I feel it necessary. My culture is based mainly on the Christian faith, although I have not been to church in many years. In my opinion, it does not matter whether you go to church or not to worship, but how you worship in general. I do not judge people by the color of their skin, or their sexuality, religion, etc. I embrace all people of all types and am mainly interested in getting to know people than worrying about the color of their skin.

How does your culture affect your communication with those in your own culture and those from other cultures?

In my culture, communication has not barrier. I will talk to whoever, for whatever reason. I am more interested in meeting new people and learning new things about them. It does not matter to me that we have different cultures because I respect them all the same. For example, my husband is agnostic. He does not believe in God but he does respect the fact that I do. He does not try to change my perspective or try to force his beliefs or opinions on me. We communicate very well because we have a mutual respect for one another and our cultures.

References

Bevan, J. L., & Sole, K. (2014). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication (2nd ed.).