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Texas ISD School Guide
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Short Stories for Teachers

How to Understand Diverse Cultures
By:Kum Martin

Every society today is a blend of diverse cultures. The best example of cultural diversity is the United States where immigrants have come and settled, but they still keep their cultural practices alive through various religious practices, ceremonies and celebrations. If you are living in a country that is multicultural, then it is important to respect other cultures for the overall peace and harmony in the community and society.

Rather than looking down at people who are different from you or speak differently, you should spend some time getting to know their culture. This will help you understand the way people from different cultures function, behave or think.

So, here are some tips to help you understand diverse cultures:

• It is very important that take time to educate yourself about another culture. No one can teach you this unless you make an effort. The reason for learning about a new culture could be travel to another country or having a colleague who comes from a different culture. You can educate yourself by reading or speaking to people from that culture.
• When you are learning about a new culture, it is important that you get your information from a reliable source. This source can be a book or website. However, it should be unbiased and not create stereotypes. Do not pay any attention to information that tries to mislead people or creates hatred and intolerance. The main aim to learn about a new culture is create tolerance in a society.
• You should be open-minded and not stick to stereotypes. Rather than judging a person on the way he or she behaves, talks or communicates, you should try to understand what motivates the person and how his or her culture influences them. This is the best way of learning.
• Ask questions to get answers to your questions. However, make sure that you ask them in a respectful manner. There is no harm in asking questions without making sweeping general statements about all people belonging to that culture.
• Get out of your comfort zone and mingle with all sorts of people. The best way to do this on a travel is to talk to people from different backgrounds. Spend time getting to know people and actually listening to them.

Kum Martin is an online leading expert in culture education. He also offers top quality articles like:
Mexican American Culture, Japanese Pop Culture - http://www.learnworldcultures.com/japanese-culture/index.html.






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