My hope for this course is that it will assemble my many experiences and ideas about the ways in which culture and language are interdependent. Having worked in Europe for two years with a company that employs people from several countries around the world but operates in English, I know how influential the mingling cross-overs of culture can be when attempting to communicate and create both professional and friendly bonds. It was very humbling for me to be a foreigner with the luxury of working with locals who could, and would, only communicate with me in their second language (I am currently monolingual, with only basic capacity in French and Spanish). Too often I find that our (and my own) egocentric and arrogant views of our own culture and language close our minds to the multitude of possible cross-cultural enlightening encounters out there. Culture and language are indelibly linked, in my experience at least, and when we attempt to communicate across cultures without this in mind all too often we fall back on stereotyping and prejudice.
With this in mind, I am very excited to delve into the theoretical and applicable understandings and applications of the cross-cultural world—and I think that beginning with a foundation in the cross-cultural issues in TESOL will serve me well in my future as an educator and in life, as a global citizen.
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