woensdag 20 april 2011

How to approach and befriend other cultures

"How to approach and befriend other cultures?"

I recently found out that there are several social and cultural experts who each have their own theories on how to befriend people from another culture. They all have their little 2- or 3 step plans which they believe hold the key to establishing a civilized conversation.
I must admit that after hearing about these steps, I found them a bit unnecessary. My first thought was: "Why the complicated explanation? Just bloody talk to someone if you want to become friends with them, regardless of their culture." I was however pleasantly surprised by David Pinto's explanation and 3-step plan:

1. Know yourself and your own norms
2. Know the other(s)
3. Adjust to the other(s) and have them do the same

So to sum up, his theory simply states that when 2 people have different ideals and theories, they must find a compromise in order to get along. This is actually the most simple way of explaining, if only this 3-step plan would work our proces of forming a gouvernment...