Blog #4 Joshua Lundell Cultural Adaptation

For this blog post I would like to focus on cultural adaptation. Cultural Adaptation, as defined in our textbook “Intercultural Communications in Contexts” by Judith M. and Thomas N., is “a process by which individuals learn the rules and customs of new cultural contexts.” This has to do with what clothes to wear, what food to eat, what bank to use, possibly learning what a bank is, what to say, what language to speak, the list can go on and on. I know it's a very broad concept, but I would like to focus more on the language aspect of this concept.

In the first article written by Erin Myers of NewsNetNebraska, “Lincoln community home to refugees from around the world” we are told of a man named Moe Free. Moe Free has left his home from Burma with his wife and six children. He left Burma for fear of war, persecution and or death. He and his family lived in a refugee camp in Thailand for eight years before they came to the United States. They left their home to live in a refugee camp for eight years. That's a crazy long time to be living in a refugee camp. Not only did they have to adapt to living in a refugee camp, they then had to adapt to living in Lincoln. Learning a new language is always a hard thing to do. Hell, I've been taking Spanish 101 for only a few months now and I'm struggling, and that's with a professor who is trained to teach us Spanish for a living. Moe Free stated that that was the hardest part of moving here, and who can blame him. English is a very complex language, and I couldn't even imagine trying to learn it while trying to assimilate to a new culture.

The second article “Lincoln's refugee students find language barriers when doing homework,” written by Ryne Stefankiewicz, is another article which focuses on language. In this article parents are struggling to help their kids with their own homework. The kids are having to translate for their parents, Htee Eh Shee, who is only in second grade and is considered bilingual. Although he cannot write in his native language Karen, he is learning to write English and speaks it as a second language. These kids are struggling to get help with their homework, and the after school programs at the Community Learning Centers are not giving them adequate help with that. The article states that “the programs act more like babysitters until parents can pick up children after school” instead of offering help with the student's homework.

The third article “Lincoln refugee finds empathy as strife hits Congo,” written by Mitch Smith, is an article that focuses on a man from Congo. Kusukika grew up in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital. Kusukika has stated that “learning a new language has been the hardest aspect of the transition.” He tried taking English classes until his job got in the way. He is 37 years old, and is now able to “speak confidently in his new tongue.” Which I find miraculous, because I know I would be struggling in his position.

From an Intercultural Communication perspective I believe the best course of action to help these refugees is to make sure that they're comfortable around the language. Comfortable enough around the language enough to begin to speak it. I believe we, Lincoln, should set up classes for these individuals to help them learn, and to make sure that they're learning. I know that it's a hard thing to set up with all of the individual people trying to assimilate into the culture, and find jobs to feed their families, but this is what I believe to be the only course of action necessary to trying assimilate them properly into the Lincoln culture.

WORKS CITED:

Meyers, E. (2011, December 5). Lincoln community home to refugees from around the world. . Retrieved from http://www.newsnetnebraska.org/news/lincoln-community-home-to-refugees-from-around-the-world/

Stefankiewicz, R. S. (2012, May 13). Lincoln's refugee students find language barriers when doing homework. . Retrieved from http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/family/lincoln-s-refugee-students-find-language-barriers-when-doing-homework/article_4fbd65f1-c12e-5702-90cd-1321dfda5257.html

Smith, M. (2011, December 11). Journalstar.com. Retrieved from http://journalstar.com/news/local/lincoln-refugee-finds-empathy-as-strife-hits-congo/article_6f011d2a-fe13-5d11-bbee-b5de6f5aba59.html

Martin, J., & Nakayama, T. (2013). Intercultural communication in contexts. (6 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.