Are you aware?

What does it mean to be culturally aware?

For me, I would say that language is generally the first thing I consciously notice about someone. I love languages. As soon as I meet someone new, I immediately notice language. Even when meeting other Americans or people from Oxford, I try to notice language. What do I mean by language? Well, that's a bit involved.

Language can mean many things. Language can be words or word choice. What words does the person I've encountered use? For native speakers, I immediately notice words that I'm not accustomed to. Or I notice words that I am accustomed to. Does he or she use ain't? y'all? Or anything else that makes them sound like me? Those are the most common words to listen to in order to determine if someone might be from the South. There are many more examples. If the person's speech sounds 'local', then I don't really pay as much attention to where they are from. It's usually just the speech that I identify as non-local that makes me pay closer attention to what and how the person speaks.

Language can also be intonation, idioms, and many other things. When the speaker is a non-native speaker of English, then I always wonder what their native language is. Sometimes I try to see if I can guess. Sometimes I'm right; sometimes I'm not. When I meet new people, then I usually forget about the customary niceties and focus on their language, especially if it's a language I've never encountered before.

As a teacher of English and a person interested in languages, I somehow feel that it is important for me to learn something about your language or your culture. Even with Spanish, which is taught widely in the United States and which is the language of many immigrants here, I'm still fascinated by the differences between different dialects of Spanish. Each country (and sometimes each region of each country) uses language differently, for example, someone from the capital of Mexico might speak differently from someone from a place far away from the capital.

So, while I teach you this intersession, I hope I get to learn something about your language and your culture. The most dear thing I can say about another language is sharing the concept of naming. Friends of mine have given me names in other languages, and I feel like those are my names now too.


Here you can see how some former Korean students showed me how to write my name in the Korean script. They also gave me a Korean name, but I don't remember if this is how to write it: 철순. I think it's Chul-Soon. Do you like that name? As we continue, I'll share more of the names friends have given me, and I hope you will share with the class what your name means and how it reflects your culture.