My Cultural Adversity And Cultural Differences In Communication And Diversity

Cultural diversity can make a big impact on our daily life. It is one of the factors that determines how we communicate and act among others. My boyfriend, Michael Palmucci, and I have our differences and few similarities in communication and perception of ourselves. Michael was born in Canada and has identified himself as Canadian Italian despite the fact that his family is Italian and was raised as one. On the other hand, I was born in Vietnam and have considered myself as Vietnamese American. The first language Michael learned was Italian, which he had forgotten when he was learning English. It was mandatory for him to learn French because he lives in Quebec, in which resulted him in knowing Italian, French, and English. Being part of a

When I was small, my parents told me that the world is a scary place simply because I am the third child and my parents are very protective, as well as setting the highest possible expectation for school and career. Whereas, Michael is the first child and was told to live however he wants. Because of my parents stereotyping, I tend to rely on misinformation and stereotypes which can create distorted perceptions while communicating to someone who is from a different culture than mine. It is never acceptable to assume what others are like based on their appearances and their culture, especially when you are in a multicultural society. Our personal values and how we distinguish ourselves as an individual can affect our communication. According to Michael, his personal values — respectful, hardworking, honest, and getting to the point — does not affect the way he communicates; in the same way, my personal values are more or less similar to his. Similarly, we both belittle ourselves because of the negative things in life that we have experienced. There are times where we denigrate ourselves which can sway the ways we communicate towards others. Both of us frequently have negative thoughts from time to time, this can be troublesome while communicating because you are likely to behave unconsciously and some expressions you do will come off as rude to others. As a result, our perception on ourselves can affects how others see us and how we