Building Cultural Literacy to Improve Linguistic Fluency
Why You Can’t Learn a Language Without Learning the Culture
While it may not be the obvious path to linguistic fluency, cultural literacy is an often overlooked and essential element of language learning. You can spend years studying a language and still experience culture shock when interacting with native speakers and consuming native media.
Does this sound familiar?
“I know all the words they’re saying, but I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
Cultural literacy, not lack of practical ability, is often the missing puzzle piece.
So what is “cultural literacy”?
In short, cultural literacy assumes a collective, often unspoken, background knowledge. It shapes the way we communicate, encompassing customs, values, and perceptions that impact the way we interact with each other and the world around us, and allows us to “participate fluently in a given culture,” (Hirsch, 1983).
Someone who is considered culturally literate has a deep understanding of a given culture’s signs and symbols, its humor and idioms, and can fully grasp references and allusions to people, places, and past events.
Someone who is not culturally literate, on the other hand, might fail to understand the same references, often missing the cultural context that comes from being well-versed (or a least, a little versed) in the collective knowledge.
Having a broad understanding of the political, religious, economic, and social traditions of a given culture can demystify much about a language that cannot be gleaned from textbooks.
What are the benefits?
From a practical standpoint, improving your cultural literacy can help you develop greater communication and self-reflection skills, which in turn should aid your ability to participate in common social practices and gain access to important services.
It can also lead to a heightened capacity to connect with language and culture and foster an increased appreciation for diverse perspectives, help you pick up on more common (and uncommon) cultural references, and become more fluent in different modes of communication.
How can you improve your cultural literacy?
For all levels of learners, immersing yourself in native media is the quickest way to get a handle on language and culture. Typically recommended (and easiest to access thanks to the internet) are music, TV shows, movies, and books. But there is more than one type of cultural literacy, and pop culture does not an entire culture make.
Engaging with classic literary works that have had an impact and influence on modern culture will reinforce your connection to the language. It can provide context for references that cannot be achieved any other way than to consume media that is well-known to native speakers.
These references are pervasive, and to the uninitiated, a lack of cultural literacy can leave you feeling left out of the conversation.
Essentially, the idea is to read more (either in the original language, or in translation) to improve your ability to understand and consume native content and feel more connected to the culture for a true immersion experience — whether you’re living abroad, or not.
Selecting culturally-relevant media
While culture and language are inherently intertwined, there is no linguistic prerequisite for improving your cultural literacy.
Many beginners, and even intermediate-level learners, tend to put off consuming native media, either out of fear that they won’t be able to comprehend it, or because they don’t feel “ready” to take that leap.
There’s good news and bad news here. Consuming the “wrong” type of media can be a shock to the system. But it can also be highly motivating. You might even be surprised by how much you do know and can pick up out of context.
While there’s no shortcut to mastering it — in fact, it is also culture-specific, so there’s no real way to become culturally literate in all cultures — there are simple steps you can take to foster your cultural literacy:
- Be observant
Does something strike you as curious, or is it at odds with modern conventions? Take notes.
2. Ask questions
Don’t just ask questions, ask the RIGHT questions, and avoid making snap judgments. Understanding something within the appropriate context is key to feeding your curiosity and actually learning, rather than coloring it with your own biases, and this is a skill that can take time to develop.
A good example to illustrate the difference would be, “Why does Hikaru Genji in The Tale of Genji have multiple wives?” versus, “What were the marriage customs of the Heian period in Japan and how did they apply to different class systems?”
See the difference?
In the first iteration, you are applying your own unconscious bias as to what a marriage “should” look like rather than trying to understand marriage within the temporal and cultural context in which the novel takes place.
3. Build on your interests
This should go without saying, but if you’re not really interested in something, there is a much higher probability that you’ll give it up. Choose sources that pique your interest, or at least your curiosity, and embrace the potential trip down the rabbit hole. You’re not only likely to find a new favorite subject but also to become an expert in it.
4. Do the research
Anything worth having takes some work. Cultural literacy is no different. To answer the questions you so keenly identified, you’re going to have to put in the time and effort to research the answers. Not sure where to look for reliable information? Try dipping into some academic articles or books published by respected universities.
You can also reach out to researchers and professors directly. They’re usually more than happy to answer and/or steer eager learners toward the right resources.
5. Read, and don’t stop!
Learning is a lifelong process. There are simply too many cultures to become truly literate in all of them. But with a little time and dedication, you can certainly become fluent in the culture of your interest.
Try setting up an account with a site like Goodreads and browse popular titles and curated reading lists on the subjects that pique your interest. You’ll find plenty of suggestions for additional titles, and reviews by other savvy (or not-so-savvy) readers who can help shed light on what you might look out for while reading.
Another great resource is “What Should I Read Next?” This website lets you plug in the title of a book you enjoyed and gives suggestions for similar titles.
6. Just jump in.
Take notes. Flag anything that makes you question as you read, and use it as an opportunity to do some research to find out more before making snap judgments based on your preconceived biases.
You can’t know what you don’t know, so start by building up a knowledge base. And hey, you might be surprised by what you do.
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Resources
Anson, Chris M. “Book Lists, Cultural Literacy, and the Stagnation of Discourse” The English Journal 77.2 (February 1988), pp. 14–18.
E. D. Hirsch Jr. (1987). Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Hirsch, E. (1983). Cultural literacy. The American Scholar, 52(2), 159–169. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41211231
Hirsch, Eric Donald; Kett, Joseph F.; Trefil, James S. (2002). The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (3rd ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Murray, Denise E. Diversity as Resource. Redefining Cultural Literacy (Alexandria, Virginia) 1994.
Reedy, Jeremiah “Cultural Literacy and the Classics” The Classical Journal 84.1 (October 1988), pp. 41–46.
