Growing
up in a military family afforded me the opportunity to experience different
groups of people and cultures. When I am
around different groups I realize that I start to adopt certain words and
gestures. For example when I lived in
Maryland I used to have my peers say that I was a “valley girl.” I didn’t realize what this meant until I watched
a show that had girls saying certain words such as “like, and really” and the
gestures that I used frequently. I
learned these words and gestures when I lived in Washington State. I quickly realized when I moved to Maryland
that everyone did not speak the same way. It is amazing how individuals are quick to
judge someone because they do not seem to display languages or gestures of ones
identified culture.
When
I entered college I moved to North Carolina to attend school. When I went home to visit my friends and
family they told me that I did not sound the same. I had a “Southern accent.” I didn’t realize that when I talked to people
I always said “y’all.” While in college
with my peers I communicated using similar words and gestures that were a more
relaxed form of communication including slang.
While in college, I could identify with the group of twenty
somethings. This changed however, when I
entered the working community. I was
more aware of how I needed to communicate while in the workplace. I knew that I had to use formal communication
that showed professionalism in the workplace especially with colleagues that I
supervised, trained or mentored. When I
am among professionals who are at the same level as myself I can use
communication that is less formal
As
I continue to grow older I realize that I know when to switch the way I
communicate on and off depending on who is in my company. Going forward in order to ensure that I am
able to use effective communication with others it is important to gain
understanding by learning about the group or individual. For example, when I worked in a school that
had children and families who spoke Spanish I tried to learn the language and
about the culture in order to gain understanding of the children and families
and develop a working relationship. It
is important to remember to not “judge a book by its cover.” I try to use this in my everyday life when I
work and communicate with individuals from a different culture.
I have spent the majority of my life in Maryland and can relate to your experience. I lived in Indianapolis,Indiana until the 3rd grade and of course had developed a Midwest accent.. I received many comments about how I pronounced words or how I used different words such as pop rather than soda. I experienced this in somewhat the reverse when my sister returned home from college in Delaware. After spending a lot of time with classmates from New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia she developed an unusual pronunciation for certain words. I struggled for a while with why she talked this way until realizing that it was simply a way to align herself with classmates.
ReplyDeleteI think that since you were in a military family, it helped you to experience different types of people which also helped you in having different communication skills. I think with meeting so many different people, it helps you to build your communication skills with different people. By talking to different people you got to experience different cultures which is a positive perspective to have.
ReplyDeleteI use to go through the same thing. My aunt and uncle raised me and they were military. Growing up here was very different then the life I had in Georgia. While in Georgia, I moved to three different places. I was looked at as rich or an up north girl because of the clothes I wore and the house I lived in while living in Georgia. It was also tough there because where we stayed our second year there was not diversed at all. I was the only African American child on the school bus and we were the only black family in that community so it was very tough.
ReplyDelete