Communication With Another Culture

Communicating With Another Culture

By: Ellen Kay

In my experience at my first home-stay, I had the opportunity to converse with the daughter Cora. We had many conversations so its hard to specifically talk about one encounter. Though I chose her for this topic because she and I are pretty close in age and I could get to know her lifestyle a little better and it was interesting to compare our young adult cultures. When I first met her, like many of the people in Spain, I was greeted with a kiss on both sides of the cheek. This was new to me because I'm really much more of a handshake person. She was very open with me in conversations right off the bat, we were able to discuss topics like american politics, boys, and racism with ease even though in America thats not necessarily something so easily talked about. 

In Spain, I have learned that it is common for them to be open on some topics we just don't openly express in America. One of the first conversations that I had with Cora was over dinner when she asked Sarah and I what time we go out at home and what time we come home. She was shocked when we said 9:30 pm and most bars close around 2-3 am. She said they normally don't come home from being out until around 8 am and never leave to go out before 11 pm. She also spoke of the racism she experienced growing up, that kind of helped me to realize that it's not just America with these issues, its the whole world. This was so interesting to me because I was able to then recognize that there was so much to still learn about this culture. 

I didn't only get the chance to have conversations with Cora but also got to talk with her friend and boyfriend as well. They were very friendly people who asked a lot of questions to keep Sarah and I talking the entire time. This seemed a little bit different to me than the United States because most people don't openly ask questions about the personal life of a stranger. I'm not sure if thats just my high school shyness coming back but the many of conversations that we did have felt more like conversations with a good friend. Cora and her friend discussed the dialect of people from south Spain. They said that their accents have changed the language a lot and they have a lot of their own terminology. This was funny to me because of the difference in dialect in American regions and how when I even came to Purdue from Pennsylvania I was a little bit thrown off. I got to learn quite a bit from Cora and a lot about our age group which I am very thankful for.

I have a good amount of advice for anyone conversing with someone from Spain and it goes as follows. Don't fight the space bubble, the people here have no problem showing affection and get much closer to you, you'll probably make them feel awkward if you back away. Be open and honest, if they are asking you questions you wouldn't typically be asked thats probably because those subjects aren't so controversial here and they are genuinely looking for an answer not a motive. Finally, if you are conversing with them in English (like I was) speak slow and try your best to use descriptive words, not everything translates so easily and its important to have patience and you'll both get more out of the conversation.