CAPS BLOG #6

Relational Learning

Jihyun Kim

Communication between different cultures can eventually be formed into a relationship. When relationships that are formed between individuals from different cultures, it is called intercultural relationships (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Much like moving to a new environment, people acquire new knowledge about the world and adjust themselves to utilize the new knowledge they have gained. Relational learning is learning that comes from a particular relationship but generalized to other contexts (Martin & Nakayama, 2009). Whether it’s a romance or a close intercultural friendship, it is a vehicle that drives us to learn something about a new culture’s history.  The knowledge gained from books, classes, movies and many other resources does not equal up to the knowledge gained from relational learning. There’s a significant advantage when the other individual learns about the new culture, it keeps them open-minded in order to accept to form other intercultural relationships.

 (The picture above is one of the games you play in celebration of Holi. Bright colored powder is thrown at people because the colors of spring are bright and colorful.) 

The world holds a variety of cultures for people to discover and explore. It can range from cultures of gender, age, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion or class. My best friend and roommate comes from a different culture background than I do, she is Indian and I am Korean. Not only does the race culture differentiate but the nationality culture as well. I learned much information about her country and their customs better than I would have from a textbook. Recently, my best friend, Anshu, took me to her sister’s house to celebrate Holi with her and her family. Holi is a festive holiday to celebrate the start of spring. It usually takes place on the Thursday after the first day of spring and lasts for a few days. It was one of the first times I got to eat a home cooked Indian meal, which is the best way to experience a new culture’s food in my book. It was also the first time I got to wear a sari with a bindi to get into the celebration mood. If I did not have an intercultural relationship with Anshu, I wouldn’t have this knowledge of India’s holiday, food, or attire.

Relational learning is a strong advantage in an intercultural relationship. It gives us the ability to learn about a new culture and gain new knowledge. After the new culture is learned it becomes easier to for others and a desire to learn more about the new culture develops. After my experience with the Indian culture, I’ve noticed I am exceptional to eating Indian food and to step in to their customs more and more. Relational learning is useful in so many ways because it helps the relationship grow further as the individuals are getting closer as they are opening up to their new culture. It gives them something in common and it helps the communications between cultures easier and viable.    

References:

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (5^th Edition ed). New York, NY: McGraww-Hill.