Although all three are watermelons, there are differences between them, where the square and round represents different culture (external) and red, yellow signifies personality (internal).
This represents the existence of intercultural, interpersonal between people, which can be observed in many situations.
Intercultural is the interaction among people of unlike culture (e.g. different countries).
Once, my uncle went to Greece for a holiday, he decided to buy souvenirs for us but because he cannot speak Greek, he had to point to what he wanted and the shopkeeper would bring out the item that he requested. As the correct item was taken out, my uncle nodded his head to show it was correct. However, the shopkeeper put the item back and my uncle was bewildered. Only then he realizes in Greece this gesture means no.
His incident taught me that even though the Greeks and Singaporeans are both human, the differences in culture could result in miscommunication.
Interpersonal communication is interaction between two persons.
In the past, I was grouped with a classmate, whom I perceive him as a bad-mannered and impatient boy, for a project. It was because he ever banged into me and run off without apologizing. However after the project, my impression of him changed as during the project, we had to communicate with each other and that was when we managed to clear the misunderstanding we had. He was actually rushing to the hospital as his grandmother fell and injured her leg.
This indicates that people ought to avoid stereotyping others so that better relationships can be constructed and conflicts should be resolved immediately.
From these experiences, it is highly recommended that we employ effective communication skills in order to minimize conflicts, misunderstandings, and embarrassing moments.
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ReplyDeleteHi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteI think that your examples are quite unique and are quite effective in showing the fact that some things that we have regarded as universal can in fact have a different meaning in other cultures. The last example shows that we requires better communication and we need to confirm with each other our actions and/or words so that the other party does not interpret it in the way that was not intended.
However I think your blog post was slightly lacking in interpretation of the examples but rather most of your post focused on your examples rather than your reflections on these examples. Probably you could restructure your post to have fewer examples but focus more on the lessons that you can learn from the example.
Regards,
Zhi Hong
Hi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteFirst thing that I want to say is that your choice of pictures is very good as they make your post so attractive that just by looking at it the reader can get a clear idea of what you are actually going to say. You clearly explained the kind of misunderstandings that can arise between people from different cultures with your example. I really liked the way you related to your personal life while explaining interpersonal communication. You clearly put out your ideas and views about what you feel. On the whole, your post was an enjoyable and pleasant one. :)
Manjula
Hi Jonathon
ReplyDeleteI had a good time reading your blogpost as you had many interesting personal experiences to share. I learnt amusing facts about the different meanings for gestures across different cultures. Your blogpost was also made attractive with the colourful watermelon pictures right at the beginning which I felt was a good way to capture the readers’ attention. The pictures are also very relevant to the post, and thus give the readers a good idea on what to expect in the post. However, I think you lack consistency with the use of tenses at certain areas. For example, “grouped with a classmate, whom I perceive him as a bad-mannered and impatient boy”. It would be better to follow through with the past tense and have “grouped...perceived as a ..”. Since you no longer have the same perception of him, it should be past tense. In addition, I think you should be more careful with your diction. Certain words like “ever” misleads the readers into thinking that it happened many times although it only occurred once. Therefore, in this case, maybe words like “once” should be a better choice. Other than that, I truly enjoyed reading your post as it was very entertaining. Keep it up! (:
Regards
Iswarya