Benefits of Learn Cross
Culture Understanding
Introduction
to the culture of each ethnic group in Indonesia by an Indonesian citizen is
important. Because multicultural characteristic is inherent in our country,
Indonesia. And it is as an asset of the nation has been able to become a force
in uniting our nation in the form of the nation-state form of union premises.
But an understanding of the culture of our nation is still very limited.
Therefore, it needs to start early introduction of Cross Culture Understanding
to all citizens of the nation in order to understand the consciousness of the
nation's cultural diversity, each of which has a meaning in life.
Cross
Culture Understanding is a study to connects or to relates the two cultures or
customs between countries, it aims to gain an understanding of different
cultures and customs of the two countries. And while culture itself is a whole
complex, in which contained knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and
habits of a group of people. So Cross Culture Understanding refers to the basic
ability of people within a community to recognize, interpret and correctly
react to people, incidences or situations that are open to misunderstanding due
to cultural differences.
While
some cultural characteristics consist of:
1.
Communication and language
System
of communication, verbal and non-verbal, one element that distinguishes one
group against another. There are about 15 major languages or
more and each of those contained dialect, jargon, and many other kinds. And the
body language or gestures are may be universal but it is different meaning
either locally or culturally.
2.
Clothing and appearance
It
is Includes clothes, jewelry and makeup. This outfit will be characteristic of
the signifies a person that come from the areas. Or characteristic painting of
the face and bodies (likes Papua’s people or Indian) signify that they were
being war or braveness.
3.
Food and eating habits
These characteristics are related to
things in the selection, presentation, and how to eat (the way). As we know
that the Muslims forbidden to eat pork
(pig’s meat), but it do not apply to those people of China . and Sundanese
people seem happy eating without using the spoon (hands only), but it will look
impolite to those west people.
4.
Time and awareness of time
This
is about people's views of the time. Most of the people can be on time and
others view relativizes time. There are people who do not regard to hours or
minutes but just mark time by the sun (sunrise or at sunset).
5.
Awards and Recognition
One
way to observe a culture is to consider how and methods give praise for good
deeds and brave, old dedication or other forms of task completion.
6.
Relations
Culture
also regulate human relations and organization relations based on age, gender,
status, family, wealth, power, and wisdom.
7.
Values and
Norms
Based
on the adopted value system, a culture defines norms behavior of the community. This rule can
pertain to a variety of things, ranging from work ethic or pleasure until to an
absolute compliance or permissibility for children; begin rigidly wife
surrender to her husband until to women's liberation in total.
8.
Sense of Self and Space
Comfort
that a person has of himself can be expressed differently by each culture. Some
cultures are very structured and formal, while others culture are more flexible
and informal. Some cultures are very closed and determine exactly where a
person, while the others culture more open to other cultures and change.
9.
The process of mental and learning
Some
cultures emphasize aspects of brain development than other aspects so people
can observe striking differences in the way people think and learn something.
10. Trust
(Belief) and attitudes
All
cultures seem to have the attention to things supernatural that is clear in
religions and their religious practices or beliefs.
And
ofcourse almost of us realize that every culture has their personal characters. Even when it is
opposite each other. On one culture the attitude is acceptable, but in other
culture that is unacceptable. For example We ever heard or watch in the television
or radio about conflict between two culture or more. So the cultural conflict
can make greater problem for both parties that misunderstand each other. The problem is small for example about the
greeting to relate to people can destroy the true purpose is to society. And
another sample is I have a friend, she comes from Java but she lives in Tumbangtiti (that is a
small town located about 100 km from Ketapang, West Kalimantan). She had a good
story when she lives there, one day she asked the destination of place that
neighbors wants to travel. Then her neighbor answered with a word "I don’t
know". As she is a Java person, she felt surprise. Whereas the context of
the conversation that she said was meant to say hello, but the neighbor
answered my friend’s greeting with different response.
However
cultural conflicts do give big opportunity to raise the issue in a
multicultural society like Yogyakarta and others city. Therefore, anyone and
especially young people (Young Generations) need to learn about cross-cultural
understanding so that they can understand the cultural differences as an
opportunity to enrich the culture and art of human life between one area and
another area. Recent Generation does need this knowledge for strong
socialization to understand cultural character, in order to avoid conflict and
the gap between the one culture and the another culture. Beside that
Cross-cultural Understanding learning is very important for us to reach even
more without causing rejection from other culture.
Some
reason studying Cross Culture Understanding, they are:
1.
The world is shrinking and the capacity
to understand of variety culture is
needed.
2.
All the cultures have function and they
are very important for members of the cultural experience although it is
different values.
3.
The values of each society as
"good" as values of
other society.
4.
Any individual and / or culture get
right to use its own values.
5.
Differences of Individual are important,
but there are assumptions and fundamental cultural patterns prevailing.
6.
An understanding of their own cultural
values is
a prerequisite to identify and understand the values of other cultures.
7.
By overcoming cultural barriers to
connect with others, we gain an understanding and appreciation for the needs,
aspirations, feelings and human problems.
8.
An understanding of other people across
cultures and between individuals is a business that requires courage and
sensitivity. The more threatened people's view of the world to view our world,
the more we have to learn from him, but more dangerous to understand.
9.
The experiences between cultures can be
fun and foster a personality.
10. Communication
skills that are gained can facilitate transfer someone from a monocultural to
multicultural human interaction into view.
11.
Cultural differences indicate the need
for admission in communication, but the differences are not bothersome or
facilitate arbitrary.
And
as the purposes of studying this Cross-Cultural Understanding outline of the
cognitive and affective perspective, they are:
1.
Recognizing their own cultural biases.
2.
We can be more culturally sensitive.
3.
To gain the capacity to really engage
with members of other cultures to create a lasting and satisfy relationship person.
4.
To Stimulate greater understanding.
5.
To expand and deepen our experience
about culture.
6.
To study the communication skills that
make a person able to accept their own communication style and content.
7.
Assisting to understand of culture as a
thing that can result and maintain the universe of discourse and meaning for
its members.
8.
Helping to understand the cross-cultural
contact as a ways to obtain or to gain a
view into their own culture; assumptions, values, freedoms and limitations.
9.
Helping to understand the models,
concepts and applications of communication’s part between cultures.
10. Assisting
to realize that different value systems can be systematically studied, compared
and understood.
So
from the explanation above that we can take conclusion that the knowledge is very
necessary for us either for one who want to work, school or stay in another
country and even it is needed for they just traveled. It is recommended to know
how the customs and habits of the people in the countries where we choose.
After we know their habits, culture and customs, we can understand and accept
it into our life. In addition it is useful to avoid misunderstandings, it is
also that we understand the customs of the country and in other that we are not
getting a war and against each other.
So
with Learning Cross Culture Understanding, we can accept differences that exist
around us because actually the something different that exist between us is the
real thing can unite us.
