My Experience of the Exchange

 

Description of my feelings, knowledge and actions during the Exchange.

 

 

 

A. Feelings

·        Ways in which my curiosity and interest were aroused: (examples that made me re-consider my own culture) I was very interested in knowing what she thought about the political situation in Us and in Italy. She said that probably the American democratic party will win in November. She did not know much about the Italian candidates Berlusconi and Veltroni, but she thought that the former would win because Italians prefer economic stability in a period of economic crisis.

 

 

 

·        Moments in which I felt uncomfortable: (what made me feel like this, with particular examples if possible) I never felt uncomfortable. I spoke with Michelle only three times and sometimes there were technical problems so we did not speak for long times and she never asked me very private information.

 

• Moments when I felt comfortable: (what made me feel like this, with particular examples if possible)  I liked the idea that some students from the other side of the world studied Italian and wanted to know something more about the Italian culture. I felt happy and comfortable when Michelle asked me information about education and young adults in Italy (which was our topic for the final project).

   

 

 

B. Knowledge

• The most important things I learnt about family life and/or life at school.  Even before skyping with my American peer I knew that in the United States university is very expensive. Parents try to save money since their child is born so as they can afford university fees. My American peer, however, gave me a real example of the amount of money: more or less 46,000 dollars per year!   

   

• The most important things I have learnt about the country, the nation, the state of the target language.Michelle said that even if the United States are a country which is made up of immigrants, there is some discrimination and prejudice against foreign people, especially against Latinos. She as a daughter of an Italian immigrant does not feel discriminated, but she said that his father did.    

   

• 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 noticed that my American peer was very interested in the social situation and organization in Italy; we spoke a lot about immigration, stereotypes, health care system, education and the costs of medical insurances and university fees. I think she felt a bit uncomfortable when one of my peers asked her which candidate she will vote in the next political elections. 

   

 

 

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. There were no incidents or problems.

   

• 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) I asked my American peer to explain me if Americans tend to prefer buying a house or renting it because this was the topic of my part of the final project. She replied me giving me general information and I had to ask for clarification and further explanations; since I had already searched on the Web information about the situation in America, I asked her if she agreed with what I found and if she felt that the percentages expressed the reality. 

 

A self-assessment of my Intercultural Experience

 

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: I was very interested in having information about health care insurance, immigration, young adults in Us, the cost of university fees and personal considerations about the political situation in Us and in Italy.

   

• I am also interested in the daily experience of a variety of social groups within a society and not only the dominant culture. Example: I spoke with my American peer about the situation of immigrants in US. She said that perhaps the immigrants who are discriminated the most are Latinos and I asked her to explain me something more about their situation.  

   

 

 

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: As far as the choice of renting vs. buying a house, I learned that Americans prefer renting than buying and I tried to see this fact from the point of view of an American. They tend to leave their families relatively early for several reasons, for example to go to college,  and it is comprehensible that they prefer renting than buying since they have not economic stability and often they cannot afford buying a house. Moreover, they often move to another state to change job, to go to university or for personal reasons and so they do not want to apply for a long-term loan. After having analyzed the situation in Us, I noticed how different the situation in Italy is. Italians prefer stability and tend to buy a house rather than to rent it.    

   

 

 

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 always tried to express my ideas and ask questions in a polite and kind way. When I spoke with my American peer about politics I avoided expressing value judgements about candidates and their programs and ideals. She said that she would vote for a candidate that I would never choose; I knew that I could not express my ideas directly and openly because I thought she might get offended. 

   

 

 

 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: In order to find material for writing posts on my blog, for discussing with my American peer and for writing my final project, I visited many Websites and I read through many articles and documents. For this reason, I learned a lot about the American political system, the Italian and American candidates, their ideas and political programs, and the situation about young adults in Us and Italy, especially as far as the choice of buying or renting a house it concerns.

   

• I know how to engage in conversation with people of the other culture and maintain a conversation. Example: I always tried to be polite and friendly; I never impose my point of view or considered my ideas better than that of the others. I asked for information about the topics that interested me and I was ready to replied to the questions that my American peer asked me.

   

 

 

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: Fortunately, I never experienced this kind of misunderstandings.

   

• I know how to discover new information and new aspects of the other culture for myself. Example: I asked my American peer specific questions in order to have specific answers. Before skyping I always thought about some issues that I would like to deal and questions that I would like to ask her. 

   

 

 

 

 

Self-Assessment of my Language Learning

 

Please provide specific examples of the following:

 

 

 

• words, expressions I learned in English: During the second semester I learned many new words regarding the elections such as: poll, ballot, super-delegate, caucus.

   

• improvements in my pronunciation of certain words or intonation: I tried to improve my pronunciation, especially of some words such as ‘culture’, ‘medicines’, and ‘caucus’. I tried to ameliorate my intonation and avoid my Italian Venetian accent. 

   

• improvements in my listening: I improved also my listening skill. The first time I spoke with my American peer I noticed that her accent was different from that of my professors and I could not understand all words. However, after speaking with her for some time I managed to understand all words.

   

 

 

• changes in the way I speak Italian to non-native speakers: I tried to speak Italian slowly because she did not know it very well. During our first Skype exchange she said that she attended the first year of college and so she had studied Italian only for some months. However, she said that she understood what I said and so I tried to speak faster.  

   

 

 

• words, expressions I learned doing the wiki project: I learned new words such as: mortgage, rate, foreclosure, underestimate, struggle, tenant.

   

 

 

• improvements in my reading doing the wiki project: I improved my reading skill, especially because I read through many articles, dossiers and reports.

   

 

 

• improvements in my writing doing the wiki project: I improved my writing skill because I had to summarize a lot of information and data in few lines. There were a number of statistics and percentages and I tried to avoid reporting them in a table as they were in the documents I read. I tried to create a coherent and cohesive text which could be easy and pleasant to be read and, at the same, very informative and exhaustive. 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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