Maria Cristoforo '24 RGLP Reflection: Challenges and Suggestions about Global Collaboration

Linguistic and cultural differences as well as stereotypes associated with political tensions are some challenges to global collaboration. As we found the roleplay activity between the two fake countries, it can be very difficult to try to understand others who have very different manners of talking, emotional expression, and levels of comfort with sharing personal information. Being unable to understand and see beyond these cultural and personal differences can create barriers to efficient communication, so it is very important to make an effort to be aware of these differences and try to be accommodating and patient during intercultural interactions.

Language barriers are also challenging in global collaboration. The English language is currently the common language used in many global intercultural interactions. Based on real-world experiences and observations in the media, I think sometimes English speakers judge the intelligence of others based on how well they speak English, which leads to unnecessary stereotyping and judgment. However, most English speakers do not make any effort to learn any of the hundreds of other languages spoken by people in other countries, and instead expect all those people to learn English instead in order to communicate globally. It is thus unfair to judge someone's intelligence based on their accent or how well they can express themselves in English. I think we should be more appreciative of when people learn another language in order to communicate globally, and seek out opportunities ourselves in order to learn more about other languages and cultures.

Lastly, I think that feelings related to global political tensions can quickly turn into stereotypes about certain cultures, which creates more barriers to collaboration. It is important to remember that a country's government does not accurately and completely represent the attitudes of all people in the country. Although two countries' leaders may disagree in political ideology, it should not mean that the people of each country create stereotypes toward each other and harbor animosity due to these governmental tensions.