When Your "Saying" Gets Lost in Translation

As impressed as I was with myself yesterday with saying what needs to be said, I realized that in my pursuit of freedom, I may have ensnared another. Similar to my last post on language, there is a demand that Western Culture and the presupposed superiority of Western culture that likes to dictate the medium of how things are communicated and said.

While interacting with someone of a different culture, I directly confronted her on my inability to connect to her based on the ways in which she tried to communicate with me. I attempted to empathize with her, saying that I only brought it up because I myself struggled with the same inability to connect with others. I felt very free in expressing myself and I felt that I brought up a pertinent struggle that others had with this amazing woman.

But when I got home, I cringed. What is so wrong with her way of communicating? Why can't we get on page with her rather than forcing her to make the distance to come and meet us? In my work and studies with ESL students, I have found that there is a real difference in how various cultures share our stories. For instance, students whose first language is Arabic tend to write long, graceful, abstract sentences, using the Koran as the model of writing well. When this paper makes its way across a Western trained person's desk, it is demolished for being unclear and indirect.

Although I find good truths in the Western styles of communication, I am wary that communication is going to be the new style of imperialism.