Assignment Takeaway
Assignment TakeAway II
This assignment asked students to read an article that highlighted 13 American values. The article was written mainly to acclimate those coming to the U.S. to American customs that may challenge the customs of the country from which they originally reside. The article seemed to have been written in only a way an American can write an article–emanating American pride in these customs, tying it to accomplishments and quite biased with an implied undertone of “this way is better” in the nature of how values were contrasted, in my opinion. With my experience with other cultures, their customs and values have a rich history and justifications, just as the American value system.
One experience that I cherish is when I was a volunteer tutor to a Chinese native. His first language, naturally, was Chinese so it my task to teach him the basic mechanics of the English language. A byproduct of teaching him the English language also came with teaching him the ways of the Americans. By the time I had become his tutor, he had only been in the US for two months. Google Translate was our best friend. There was a stark contrast in how he approached things and how I approached things, even though he was just 9 years old. I also had to do the inevitable and teach him about race, especially when he was confused about my natural hair. That was a tough one for me, as I know he will go on to learn about stereotypes in good ol’ American fashion. I can only hope that our interaction will keep the ignorance at bay since he had social exposure with someone who is Black in his malleable stages of enculturation.
Overall, this article allowed me to reflect on what is distinctly American and my experiences with different cultures as well. It also serves as a reminder that how I view life is greatly influenced by these values and an even greater reminder that my outlook and how to deal with life is not universal. That’s very humbling because there is so much to learn from other cultures.