Issues in Intercultural Communication

Culture. A single word to say a lot of things. We can find several definitions throughout the years, such as this one :”Culture is what groups of people say and do and think and feel. Culture is not the people but the communication that links them together. Culture is not only speaking a language and using symbols but interpreting those symbols consistently.”[1] In this huge definition, we can find cultural concepts with the challenges that everybody faces at least one time in their life such as the culture shock, the stereotypes and the ethnocentrism. Examples may be given at different levels in the world, from international to personal. This essay will also explain the importance of showing empathy for difference and sensitivity to diversity as well as some strategies for dealing with those challenges.

We talked before about cultural concepts, and the Culture Shock is one of them. According to Kalervo Oberg, who first used this term, “culture shock is precipitated by the anxiety that results from losing all our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse.” (1960:177). When someone is going abroad for studying or working, he or she might be disturbed by the differences of behaviours, of language, of food... He or she goes through what we call the four stages of the culture shock. The first one is called the “honeymoon stage”, you just arrived in the country, you are feeling excitement and euphoria and everything and everyone you encounter is new and many times exciting. Then comes the “frustration stage”, your feelings of anxiety, anger, and homesickness creep in. The “understanding stage” arrives when you develop a more balanced view of your experience abroad. You will have made friends, you become more comfortable and relaxed in your new environment. Finally arrives the “acclimation stage”, when you feel less like a foreigner and more like your host country is your second home. We can read on Internet tons of