Cultural Literacy Among Others

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Victoria Condon Dr. Sanyal Writing 103-002 12 December 2012 Cultural Literacy Among Others Culture is something that is learned, not something that someone just wakes up with one day. Cultural literacy is the ability to know and understand the deepest ideas or customs of a particular culture. The main idea of cultural literacy is to have an understanding and appreciation for others. Each person has a different culture to them and it is these differences that need to be understood to really function with others in a nation and around the world. When people fully understand one another they are able to communicate better since communication allows us to better understand what others around us want, need, expect of us, and desire. Communication is the foundation of daily interactions, social affairs, and anything that requires the need to associate with other human beings. Cultural literacy requires a person not to just look at someone else who has different ideas, beliefs, values, traditions and materials but to ultimately understand them. That person is able to recognize the meaning of words, phrases, places or names in order to connect better with all sorts of people. Culture evolves and changes over time; understanding the history of someone's culture comes with knowing the past of where they come from as well as where their culture is today. It is hard to respect people and really accept them if we do not understand where they came from and where they are going. Thus, Cultural literacy is the backbone to thoroughly understand multiple subject areas and is fundamental in order to associate with others. Culturally literate people possess background knowledge that enables them to read information adequately from something such as a local newspaper and understand key points and problems being discussed. Maintaining background knowledge

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