第一篇：Intercultural Communication Personal Statement

Intercultural Communication Personal Statement

I am a hard-working, responsible, open-minded girl with a strong passion to become an intercultural communicator.I have been fascinated by western culture since I was a young child.My initial interest in intercultural communication was sparked when I read the book Doing Culture: Cross-cultural Communication in Action in my freshman year.Then I participated in the Workshop on Introduction to Indian Literature in November 2009, through which I had my first experience of(besides my foreign teacher)communicating with people from a different culture.I want to concentrate on this field in graduate school and am excited to find the Intercultural Communication Program at Princeton University.I feel that studying intercultural communication at Princeton University--a vibrant community of scholarship and learning that stands in the nation's service and in the service of all nations--will broaden my perspective and reinforce my abilities and knowledge.Through communication with my foreign friends, I have a better understanding of cultural differences and the importance of the study of intercultural communication.I once had an Australian friend spent the winter vacation in my hometown.We had a lot of Spring Festival celebrations at my aunts’ and posted some blogs about our activities online.Two weeks later, I was surprised to find that my friend could hardly recall which activity took place at my shenshen’s(meaning father’s younger brothers’ wife)house and which at my yima’s(meaning mother’s sisters)house.At the same time, my Chinese friends who only read my blogs could clearly remember those facts.He explained that in Australia, the names of relatives are much easier than those in China, so they don’t bother to distinguish their father’s brothers’ wife from their mother’s sisters because they are all aunts.This experience gave me an understanding of the relationship between language and thought.Thinking determinism and language determinism are both extremely influential;thought and language are inter-connected.At the very beginning human thought may have determined language to a certain degree, but afterwards the fixed language pattern must have great influence on human thought.The book Doing Culture: Cross-cultural Communication in Action opened the door of intercultural communication to me.It was the first time that I had learned that there was a discipline called intercultural communication.Then I read more books and some classic works about intercultural communication.This introduced me the similarities and differences between cultures from different perspectives, and fundamental theories highlighting the underlying factors of cultural differences.Now I am at the point where I wish to take my study much further because there are some knowledge points that I have difficulty understanding.Take Hofstede’s value dimensions for example.His results seem self contradictory—France is both flexibly collective and change adverse.I am eager to tackle these questions with professors and understand this seeming paradox.These experiences have given me a first hand look at the differences between cultures and strengthened my conviction that intercultural communication should be my concentration.I want to expand my studies in this field and eventually work enhancing communications among countries.Studying at Princeton University will help me build on my experiences and give me the skills I need for my future work in this area.I recognize the demanding nature of this field but as a dedicated and confident student, I enjoy the challenges of academic study.I am committed to reaching my full potential with Princeton’s guidance.