Culture: What is it and how is it related to communication?

Culture is learned from those around you from the moment you are born and affects the decisions you will make throughout your life. It is constantly developing and changing. It is what you are raised to believe and value, and how you are taught to act in various settings. Culture is represented in how you act, think, and dress, as well as your language and how you communicate.

People of different cultures apply different meanings to various verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. Your eye contact, how you sit, how you react to different people in different settings, and what you say and don't say all are forms of communication. If you are not aware of the standard social expectations of another culture, you can easily offend, confuse, be offended, or become confused. Because language is more than just spoken words (or signed [Deaf culture]), quality communication between cultures cannot occur without an understanding of why someone is acting they way he or she is, and how he or she expects you to act and respond.

Culture and communication go hand in hand. When communication occurs, the words, actions, and responses of the sender and receiver are all representations of their cultures. Whether or not the sender and receiver have different, similar, or identical cultural backgrounds does not matter. How you communicate is one of the primary ways you express your culture.