Cultural Activity is my latest intervention to test if people can understand cultures better by finding similarities. I chose the participants on the street and invited them to join my intervention. Some people are willing to join my intervention but I also been refused by many people. When I reflected about it, I thought the way I asked questions should be improved. And this intervention may takes people a few minutes so I should chose people who looked not in rush.
My plan of this intervention was asking two participants who are from different countries and answer the cultural questions together. I asked people who are not from China to do this intervention with me. The first participant is from Bangladesh. Based on the five questions we answered, she found our cultures have similarities. The second group are participants from France and Spain. Before doing this intervention, one of them was not confident enough with his English and his cohort said this activity can also help them practice their English.
In addition, I did this intervention with two experts and they gave me some feedback about this. Both of them found this activity is fun but they had different thoughts about the differences and similarities of cultures. The first expert had an opinion that basic requirements of human being are the same and we should look beyond the culture. However, the second expert likes the difference of cultures because it’s interesting.
Based on the feedback from my stakeholders and experts, I found they are happy to do this activity with people from different backgrounds and it helped them to know more about others. I think this activity can remind people about the similarities of cultures but it is not deep enough to make people think beyond the culture.
Joseph is an Australian Online English teacher who had lived in Thailand for more than 10 years. He has 4 years of teaching experience with people from different countries and experiences of living in different countries so he has a high level of cultural competence.
I randomly picked 4 questions and we answered them together. He told me some cultures of Australia but also other countries based on his cultural knowledge.
Joseph’s feedback
“Personally, I am fine with that. They are not intrusive questions and not bother me anyway. Interesting questions because it highlights that we have common things. We do celebrate the same things in a little different way. With all that country are being to, we eat different food, we look different, people are different religions, different everything but we are all the same. We had a basic fundamental of human beings, we all want the same thing.”
“You gotta remove the culture and that is what I did. I look beyond. Of course there’s difference between culture and languages. The basic of the human are the same.”
Expert 2
Alma is an Online Spanish teacher and she has lived in London for 4 years. She loves getting to know different cultures and always has conversations about culture with her students from all over the world.
I did this intervention with Alma. She explained a lot about her culture such as what nap actually is in Spain. And she is always curious about Chinese culture as well and she asked many questions. So we only had time to do 3 questions in this card game.
Alma’s feedback
“I think it’s very fun. I think it’s really interesting to know the differences between cultures. Especially with cultural differences to China and Spain because I think here in Spain, although there are many Chinese people, they normally have their communities and I don’t really know. I mean I think now with Chinese culture, a lot of teenagers nowadays have classmates who are Chinese, but when I was in school, I had never known one Chinese classmate so I never had a chance to talk to people from China, talk about these things. I don’t think we know much about China. It’s really interesting to talk to you. All the little things you told me, I find really fun.”
“Clearly, there are similarities. Even though the cultures are different, I think Asian cultures are different from European cultures. I think there are lots of similarities. I think the traditional knowledge, all those little things that pass down from generation to generation, are those pieces of advice. I think they are very similar. I think the fact that food is so important. You have your time, you might organise your day around food as well, like in the morning, you had to take into account that you’re gonna have breakfast and then lunch. You will have dinner around the table with your family and talk about your day. Yeah, I think there are lots of similarities. Families are important to every culture. The way we try to raise children is also very similar.
Tips to get along with people from different cultures
“I think the most important thing is to be open and very curious. Not to be judgmental. I find it really interesting to see how people do things differently. And actually, I really like to try. Every time you tell me about those little things, I really would have to try. I think it is the differences that make it interesting rather than you know obviously, we have things in common but I think the differences are very interesting. It helps us to understand the culture. I like the differences. I see the similarities but I love the differences.”
I started my intervention by asking people on the street to play this cultural activity. I changed a little bit rule of this game.
I used my card game to ask participants to answer 5 questions. If there is only one participant, I will represent Chinese culture to answer questions with them. If there are two participants who are from different cultural backgrounds, I will ask both of them to answer the questions. The goal of this game not only is finding similarities but also getting to know about different cultures.
I found my stakeholders randomly on the street. Not everyone I got in touch with was willing to play. At last, I got 3 participants offline. However, these participants didn’t want to show their faces in my project so I recorded the video without filming their faces.
Participators from Spain and France They refused to attend this activity
Participant 1:
Participant 1 is from Bangladesh
Question 1: How do you celebrate the new year?
Both of us will have a meal with family.
Question 2: What time do most of the stores close in your country?
Participant 1: Sundays are at 5pm, weekdays they close at 8 or 9.
Me: Most of the stores close at 9 or 10 but some of them at 6.
Question 3: What do you do to stop hiccups?
Participant 1: I will hold my breath for like 30 seconds or just drink a lot of water.
Me: We will have sugar on the mouth or be scared by others.
Question 4: Do you like to take a nap?
Participant 1: Yes, I like to take a nap when I come home afterwards.
Me: Me too. I can’t do it every day but I like it.
Question 5: What are weddings like in your culture?
Participant 1:They have to be very big and grand. The bride has to wear red and the bride has to be given away by her dad. It is common in a lot of cultures. Traditional music is always played in the background.
Me: In tradition, the couple needs to wear red but nowadays people also like to wear white as western-style. We will have a big meal in a hotel. The couple will invite their friends and relatives. They will receive lucky money.
Feedback:
“Thank you for picking me. I think it’s special. I think our cultures are very similar. We have more similarities than the differences.”
Participants 2 and 3
Participant 2 is from Spain and Participant 3 is from France
Question 1: What time do most of the stores close in your country?
Participant 2: It depends on the store but normally 7 or 8pm.
Participant3: Same.
Question 2: How do you celebrate the coming of a new baby?
Participant 2: Have a party with family or friends.
Participant 3: Have a party with family or friends too.
Question 3: What meal would you serve if you wanted to help visitors to understand your culture?
Participant 2: Tortilla, paella, jamón.
Participant 3: Escargot.
Question 4: What birthday traditions do you have?
Participant 2: Cake and party with friends and family.
Participant 3: Yes, cake, party, Saturday night and alcohol.
Question 5: What’s your favourite breakfast?
Participant 2: English breakfast for me or tostada with jamon and tomato and oliver oil.
Participant 3: English breakfast.
Feedback:
Participant 2: “This (activity) can help me to practice my English.” “I have a group of people all are from different country, Japanese, Chinese, Brazilian. For me, I like this (activity)to know about other cultures. Yes, it helps me to understand cultures better.”
Participant 3: “Yes, we are same because we need to eat, to live. Spain and France are close so we have similarities but if you ask other people, for example Japanese. The answer can be different. “
