Carlos Alonso Blog

    The first words I can say is that I learned with my group first about what teamwork and group communication are. Together with my team, we got to work from the beginning. We divided the work we had to do for our presentation. Initially, we chose three topics per person, which we would later present in our class. For my part, I chose my three topics which were religion, native languages, and intercultural empathy. The main topic of our presentation with my group was culture and communication. Some of the topics that were available, which the members of my group chose were race, ethnicity, sex and gender, etc. Then the leader of our group opened a Google file so that we could individually make our presentations on the topics we had chosen. A couple of days before the presentation we met for a Zoom meeting. The main point of this meeting was to agree and organize ourselves according to the order and time that we had to follow when making our presentation on class day in front of our other classmates and our teacher. On the day of the presentations, I would like to start by talking and giving my personal reflection on the presentation and topics of my group. First, we start by talking about what culture is and what it means today. We always have to make an effort to respect and try to participate in each culture in a certain way. And even if we do not agree with a culture different from ours, we must show respect. 

    Then we talked about what intercultural communication is. This occurs when people from different cultures try to communicate but find it a bit complicated due to the fact that they are from different cultures. But in order to be successful when expressing themselves, they must understand their cultural differences and similarities. The next topic which we delve into is one of the most delicate and we talk about these days. This topic is about gender and sex. When we refer to gender we are talking about norms, roles, and norms. and when talking about sex we are referring to anatomy, genetics, and hormones. The next topic is in my opinion and my reflection the most delicate and the one that fewer people try to talk about due to its commotion. The issue I am referring to is sexual orientation. First, we begin by explaining that in America it has always had first and privileged heterosexuality is. Many people who do not share heterosexuality may face threats and discrimination. I think that we are not all the same and we all have different thoughts and beliefs and even if we do not agree with these beliefs and thoughts we must respect them and never judge or discriminate against any person for the simple fact of having a different thought than the one we have. 

    The next point of our presentation was about religion, not all of us share the same religious beliefs even if we are from the same culture. It is even more difficult and complicated to try to understand the religion of other cultures since they are religions of which we have no knowledge. Then another point that we talked about in depth was about masculinity and femininity. In the world, there are cultures where men mostly rule and they tend to be cultures where the male gender predominates. In these types of cultures, men are more accustomed to providing for their families, being more possessive and even at certain points sexist. Acting in this way expects women to act passively, and lovingly and carry out household chores and duties. On the other hand, we have other types of cultures where the female gender usually predominates. These types of cultures tend to be more balanced, both men and women must carry out household chores, provide for their families, and also respect the opposite sex. Another important point we talked about with my group was about potential barriers. When we talk about barriers we are referring to what prevents us from being able to communicate and relate to people from other cultures. Some of these barriers are anxiety, egocentrism, and stereotypes. What can happen many times and what causes these intercultural barriers are stereotypes, thinking that all people are equal. even people who are from another culture. 

    The conclusion that we were able to reach with my group was that intercultural communication is very important in these times. since now we have more possibilities of having to interact with people from different cultures. Therefore we have to learn to respect these cultures and at some point learn about them and try to carry out activities from these cultures. What I can say about the other presentations is that they expressed themselves very well about their topics. They had excellent points and very good examples. I liked the group which in their presentation had a couple of videos to help us better understand their point of view on the subject. I really liked this activity since I was able to share with my classmates and improve my teamwork skills. Throughout this class, I would like to continue learning about these topics that surround us daily. and also learn from my colleagues and be able to work as a team with them. Another thing I liked about this job was that we all supported each other to be able to carry out the presentation. And in my opinion we did a great job together and in the remainder of the class I am sure that we will improve as a team and we will continue helping each other.