Cultural Competency

What is cultural competency? The capacity to comprehend and communicate effectively with members of various cultures is known as cultural competency. It entails having a conscious awareness of and sensitivity to cultural differences as well as the ability to interact and collaborate effectively with people from various cultural backgrounds. There are a number of reasons why cultural competency is important for language learners. Here I listed just three reasons.  

First of all, language and culture cannot be seen as different terms from each other. They are closely related. If we can understand the cultural norms and values, learning and understanding that culture's people’s language will be easier for us. For example in Arabian culture, camels are used for many reasons. For this reason, in this culture, there are a lot of different types of camels. In another culture camels are not used as much as in Arabian culture, there are not many different camel types. So if you know the culture, you can learn about its language.

Secondly, in today's globalized society, when it is more and more frequent to engage with people from different cultural origins, cultural competency is crucial. Having cultural competence can help you interact and communicate with individuals from various cultures more successfully, which can be advantageous both personally and professionally. For example, at work, if you have co-workers from different cultures, and when you know their culture you can be good with each other. Both of you will respect each other, and your workplace will be such a place that you will go there almost every day with excitement. 

Finally, language learning can be a positive and enriching experience when language learners are able to better understand and appreciate the cultures of the people they are dealing with.

To learn more about cultural competence, you can watch the video.