Community&Language

After reading the passage “Achieving Community”, I realized that people speaking the same language can share a cultural identity and acquire a sense of belonging in a community. However, sometimes community and culture are more complicated. In some occasions, people may not be willing to share certain cultural identity with us even though they do speak the language and have a common cultural background.

If I were the author, I would feel embarrassed and change to use English when the worker responds to me in English although I would probably ask whether he speaks my native language initially. At that time, I would regard him as an English speaker because I believe he would have answered me in my mother tongue if he understands and is willing to communicate with me in this language.

While, in some occasions, there are also many people who like to speak their native language and share the cultural identity with compatriots. As an oversea student, I have so much relevant experience. For example, I got to know a Chinese student who just transferred to this university when he came to the physics section for the first time. He started conversation with me in Chinese since he had no idea what to do during the class. I was glad to hear my native language spoken by others in a foreign country, so I readily responded to him and told him many important things to notice for the class. In that situation, we got acquainted with each other easily and felt happy talking with each other probably because we are in a same community and sharing a common native language.