Intercultural Communication: Interview With a Tourist
Intercultural communication is becoming more common due to the process of globalization. Cultural diversity is typical of American society, as numerous immigrants are continuously arriving at the USA for business, educational or any other purposes. Interviewing representatives of another culture helps to acquire first-hand information that is helpful for analyzing the peculiarities and problems of intercultural communication. The present paper is based on the interview of a Russian student, who is currently getting the Master’s degree in the US.
My friend has introduced me to Vasily, a Russian student who is receiving a master’s degree in economics. Considering the fact that Vasily has been in America for almost two years, he was able to describe the common problems of communication with native citizens and the problem of cultural adaptation. Vasily is 23 and he was born in Moscow. Vasily came to the US when he was 21, and he had never been abroad before. In order to analyze the issue, it is necessary to define linguistic and cultural aspects of communication.
Maintaining a communication is relatively easy for Vasily, as his English is fluent. However, he still had a slight problem of understanding students' colloquial language. This problem is common for almost every non-native speaker during informal communication. Nevertheless, people usually treat Vasily with understanding and explain certain language peculiarities. During the process of studying, Vasily has improved the language skills, which helps him to interact with the peers more naturally.
However, it is more important to define the cultural aspect of communication. Before coming to the US, Vasily had been renting his own apartment in Moscow. For that reason, he is acquainted with an independent life in a big city, which helped to reduce the effect of culture shock. Vasily was favorably impressed by the politeness of American people. According to Vasily, Russians tend to hide their emotions, which is why people from other cultures may consider them to be rude. However, they behave openly with friends and family members. Russian people are suspicious of excessive politeness and may regard it as a sign of deception or pretense. Russian people are typically more conventional, as they appreciate traditions and family values. The family interaction has surprised Vasily and he claims that children in America are more independent, as they do not obey the parents. Keeping in mind these cultural peculiarities will help to understand the Russian citizens and maintain sound communication.
On the whole, the experience of communication with Vasily was not typical, comparing to the theory described in the textbooks. The communication was more natural and fluent than expected, and it was relatively easy for Vasily to adapt to the foreign environment. It is possible to conclude, that the process of cultural adaptation depends on the age of a person, as young people interact with American culture more often. Vasily and many other young people are acquainted with American culture and traditions, as …
