Saturday, 27 October 2018

09:36 - 1 comment

TESOL 103: 10/27/18; Personal Space Differences

I am a very private person. I value my personal space, and I love spending time by myself. My sister-in-law is very different. She loves company. She loves to visit, and chat. There was a time when we were both pregnant at the same time. We were at a family gathering, and spending the day at the Calgary Stampede. She would always walk next to me, and whenever she would turn toward me, our pregnant bellies would bump. She would giggle, thinking it was fun that our bellies would meet. What she didn't know was that, every time our bellies touched I felt like punching her in the face.

At the time, I didn't understand why it bothered me so much, or even why she thought it was so fun. I love my sister-in-law, and I felt bad for the feelings that I had (which I fortunately didn't act on.) I remember telling her years later how I felt. She was surprised, because that time was a happy memory for her. We laugh about it now, because we have a deeper understanding of each other.

It is so easy to misinterpret personal space differences. Professor Iver's from Brigham Young University - Idaho shares an experience while at a McDonald's, where there were a group of African American's walking past him a little to close for comfort. He was grateful for his cultural understanding, because he was able to see that the "invasion" wasn't what he felt it was. Another person might have felt that the group of men were trying to be intimidating. Here is a funny video from "Seinfeld" that show the awkwardness we might feel when someone invades our personal space.


Personal property can also be interpreted. The aboriginal's in North America have a few different view of personal property than the the settlers. For us, property can be brought, while for the aboriginal's the land belongs to the creator, and is to be used by everyone. If a tool is needed, the aboriginal would take it, because it was needed. A settler would claim the tool as stolen; thus cultural misunderstandings occur.

A crucial way to combat cultural misunderstandings is empathy. We need to learn about other cultures, so that we can understand their perspective. Once there is understanding, there is less likely a chance of misunderstandings.

Works Cited

“05 Personal Space Differences.” BYU-Idaho, video.byui.edu/media/05 Personal Space Differences/0_yz4lk5f0.

1 comments:

I loved the video. It is a good example of what we can do to avoid misunderstanding from one culture with another. They just said how he talked and even if they felt uncomfortable having his right in their faces talking they still engage with the conversation.

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