Interculture Wiki / Caterina Luison_ICC

Ways in which my curiosity and interest were aroused: (examples that made me re-consider my own culture) When we began this intercultural exchange, I thought that it was a good experience in order to improve my knowledge of English language. But during the course and in particular during the conversations about political elections, I appreciated the fact that the exchange with the american peer, but also with the other italian student, was a moment to reflect on our cultural and social behaviour and manners.

Moments in which I felt uncomfortable: (what made me feel like this, with particular examples if possible) Perhaps I felt uncomfortable only the first time I had to speak with Corina, because I didn't know her and I did not know what talk about.

Moments when I felt comfortable:(what made me feel like this, with particular examples if possible) I felt comfortable when the conversation was dinamic, without a lot of moments of silence.

B. Knowledge

The most important things I learnt about family life and/or life at school. I have to admit that I had not many occasion to talk about family life or life at school, even though my peer explained us how her italian course worked.

The most important things I have learnt about the country, the nation, the state of the target language. I've learnt how the health care system works in America, thanks to the wiki page and moreover, now I have an idea of how the election system works!! I has always been a tabù!

What I have learnt about customs and conventions of talking with people (topics which interest them, topics to avoid, how to greet people and take leave from them). I think that I had not time enough to understand all these thing. However I can say that American people are less shy than us to talk about every kind of subject, for example the first time that we talked with Corina, she told us who she voted at the last election.

C. Actions

Incidents or problems which I resolved by explaining different cultures to people, helping them see the points of view of different cultures and how misunderstandings can happen. A possible misunderstanding is about some words that appear similar from one language to the other, but the real meaning can be confused. For example, about the subject of our wiki page...Azienda ospedaliera.

Examples of times when I have had to ask questions and work out my own answers (from ask for clarification to understanding cultural customs and beliefs)

A. Interest in other people's way of life

I am interested in other people's experience of daily life, particularly those things not usually presented to outsiders through the media. Example: the universitary habits in other countries are very interesting and I've learned to appreciate them during the period in which I lived in Germany and at London. In this semester I never talked about it with Corina, but I read the wiki page of another group , which was about this subject!

I am also interested in the daily experience of a variety of social groups within a society and not only the dominant culture. Example:

B. Ability to change perspective

I have realised that I can understand other cultures by seeing things from a different point of view and by looking at my culture from their perspective. Example:I don't know if I am able to see my and judge my own culture from another perspective, but I know thatI would like to be able to have a strong patriotism as American people have.

C. Ability to cope with communicating in a different language with a different culture

I am able to cope with a range of reactions people from different cultures may have to the way I express myself and what I say. Example: I think so and I think that correction and the knowledge of new words and expressions may always help to be clearer in describing a situation or a point of view.

D. Knowledge about another country and culture

I know some important facts about the other culture and about the country, state and people that I did not know before. Example: of course, I've already said that this exchange helped me to know about elections, health care, university organization...

I know how to engage in conversation with people of the other culture and maintain a conversation. Example: I think that I am able to engage a conversation. I realize this also when I go abroad, for example on holiday, and I meet foreign people. However this exchange helped me to speak with a person trying to say more than a sentence, trying to exchange our opinions also about important subjects. It is not so interesting when a conversation is carried on only from one of the two people and the other says only "me too" or "do you agree?".

E. Knowledge about intercultural communication

I know how to resolve misunderstandings which arise from people's lack of awareness of the view point of another culture. Example of misunderstanding and solution: the best solution is to explain better and with other words the same concept. For example, when I wrote my part for the final project, I had to search for a lot of words that seemed similar to the italian ones, but they wanted to mean something completely different (

I know how to discover new information and new aspects of the other culture for myself. Example: of course, because I am able to evaluate the sources of information, for example websites.

Please provide specific examples of the following:

words, expressions I learned in English: a lot of words dealing with politics (political campaign, platform) and with health care (some types ok insurance, the name of some kind of different doctors...)

improvements in my pronunciation of certain words or intonation: When I listen to a native speaker it's natural to try to imitate his way of speaking and his intonation in particular.

improvements in my listening: I want to say thanks to my teacher, bacause she gave us the opportunity, through the writing of the blog, to explore the net and all its oppurtunity to improve our English.
changes in the way I speak Italian to non-native speakers: I always speak slow and keeping attention to the stress, focusing on the most important words of the sentences. I try also to use simple words.
words, expressions I learned doing the wiki project:
improvements in my reading doing the wiki project: I've read a lot of document also about difficult subjects, for example the discriminations which are made in the hospitals. I noticed that now I am really more quick to read than a pair years ago.
improvements in my writing doing the wiki project: I learnt to organize my work, to focus only on the most relevant information and to give a logical meaning to the entire page.

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