In today's world, the need to understand people from other cultures is becoming more important and unavoidable as the world changes in different aspects of life. The ability to communicate effectively with other individuals from other cultures is called intercultural competence. To be interculturally competent, an individual must have the correct knowledge and skills to effectively communicate with an individual in an intercultural context. Intercultural competence is made up of a few essential parts. These include demographics, technological, economic, peace, and interpersonal imperatives (2018).
Demographic Imperative
In the U.S., the demographics are constantly changing with rapid globalization happening. With the growth of cities, there …show more content…
Technology has made it easier for individuals from all over the world communicate instantaneously in a 'global village'. Global village in today's terms is used to describe the worldwide web of interconnection with modern technology (2018). With modern technology of today, like transportation for long distances and fast ways of communication, being interculturally competent is imperative for an individual to become successful in the new millennial world. Whether it is talking to individuals online from other countries, or running into a foreigner visiting your country on a vacation, technology has made the need to understand others more of a necessity to improve …show more content…
The most powerful motivator for myself to improve my intercultural competency is the interpersonal imperative. For individuals that have traveled and lived in another country with a different culture than their own, there becomes a better understanding of your own culture and every other culture in the world. I personally feel after coming to Germany as an exchange student in high school without previous knowledge of German, I felt the quality of life had gone down because I, myself, lacked the understanding of their culture, language, and values. It made the quality of my life for the first 4 months in Germany to be on the downside. As I started to learn the language and understand the culture, the quality of life and understanding had changed completely. I became more open and my need to understand other cultures and languages
Demographic Imperative
In the U.S., the demographics are constantly changing with rapid globalization happening. With the growth of cities, there …show more content…
Technology has made it easier for individuals from all over the world communicate instantaneously in a 'global village'. Global village in today's terms is used to describe the worldwide web of interconnection with modern technology (2018). With modern technology of today, like transportation for long distances and fast ways of communication, being interculturally competent is imperative for an individual to become successful in the new millennial world. Whether it is talking to individuals online from other countries, or running into a foreigner visiting your country on a vacation, technology has made the need to understand others more of a necessity to improve …show more content…
The most powerful motivator for myself to improve my intercultural competency is the interpersonal imperative. For individuals that have traveled and lived in another country with a different culture than their own, there becomes a better understanding of your own culture and every other culture in the world. I personally feel after coming to Germany as an exchange student in high school without previous knowledge of German, I felt the quality of life had gone down because I, myself, lacked the understanding of their culture, language, and values. It made the quality of my life for the first 4 months in Germany to be on the downside. As I started to learn the language and understand the culture, the quality of life and understanding had changed completely. I became more open and my need to understand other cultures and languages