How Althen And Davids Have Effected Me

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Each culture has its own way of communicating and showing affection. Certainly, people from different countries have their own values and assumptions. I was born and grew up in Vietnam, so I had my own cultural values. Reading the essay by Athen and Davids help me to understand the differences between Americans and some other cultures from over the world. To mention some, individualism, equality and eye contact are important aspects of non-verbal communication which I have to pay attention. The first important value I have learned from the essay is individualism of Americans. Athen says “Americans are trained from very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies”. In contrast, the children in my country are trained to see themselves as members of family, group or nation. For example, when the student goes to the school, he or she would have to enjoin into a class form 40 - 42 people. And till the end of that grade, each member has responsibility for emulative mark of class. I do not think it’s bad but it decreases individualism of the students and limits their personality. Besides, in the essay, with people who don’t have individualism, Athen explains “Americans assume that the people feels trapped or is weak, indecisive, or overly dependent”. As a result, I understand that individualism is one of the important values which I want to ameliorate for sucess in a global community. Another important value in the essay of Athen which I have made improvement is equality. According to Athen, “Americans dislike being the subjects of open displays of respect - being bowed to, being deferred to, being treated as though they could do no wrong or make unreasonable request”. On the other hand, in my culture, every younger people have to show their respect to older

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