2/01/21; Week 5; Response to Cultural Paradigms

 I have always been curious about other cultures. I like to learn about how other people dress, how they speak, what they eat, and how they socialize. Our family moved a lot when I was young. We lived in different states in Mexico. People would recognize we were not from the area because of the way we spoke and the way we dressed. The greatest culture shock we had as a family was when we moved to Canada. We thought people were very different. One thing I appreciate from my parents and my maternal grandmother is the fact that they always taught us to respect, understand, and tolerate differences in other cultures. When I got married, I had the opportunity to live in different countries with my own family. We had special and wonderful experiences. We also met amazing people with interesting backgrounds. I strongly believe that regardless of our differences we can see each other as precious individuals with many similarities. 

I am getting ready to become a certified ESL teacher. We talked about paradigms or the ways we all look at things in the world, in other words, cultural differences. Today, we do not have to travel far to meet someone from another country. In our own communities, we are all people who speak another language, or dress differently, or eat different food. We need to understand that we all have our own culture and we need to have an open mind and be flexible. It will be an honor to have in my class students from different backgrounds. I believe I will empathize with them because I know what it is like to live in a different country and learn a different language. As a teacher, it is important to have a caring and positive attitude towards our students. It is essential to create a comfortable environment in the classroom and help the students to reduce the anxiety that second language acquisition can bring.

Comments

  1. MissyFebruary 2, 2021 at 7:00 PM

    Olimpia, from your writing you sound like a beautiful person! I love that your family taught you from a young age to "respect, understand and tolerate different cultures". I am a mother of four children and that is something my husband and I try very hard to teach our children. I love the last sentence in your first paragraph about seeing each others similarities. That is also a belief that I hold. I think when we take the time to get to know people, we will be surprised at how much we have in common. I also love that you said it will be an "honor" to have students from diverse backgrounds in your classroom. I will remember those words as I begin to teach in a classroom of my own.

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