Valentine Lacaze

Blog post number 1:

Conversation is emphasized as a shared activity, which means there is an exchange between
people. In this process, there is reciprocally listening and verbal communication. During a
conversation, you can wonder if you listen to answer or actually listen to understand the other
person. Doing so might help to figure out what type of conversation you're having, and what is
your level of listening and concern. One of the most important part of conversation

We discussed how conversation can be performed as social act, and as there are different type I
want to focus on assimilation of likeness which I feel like I can relate a lot as a foreign student
and immigrant. I arrived in America at 18 years old and was struggling with english, it felt really
comforting to meet people from France, or any foreign student who were going through the same
changes as I was, or older people that did have to overcome the same culture shock. We tend
to be more comfortable to engage conversation with similar people, especially in a new
environment. Living in a foreign, I will immediately engage with people if I heard them
speak french, which I wouldn’t do back home. Hearing someone speak the same language
in a foreign country is a really cool feeling, it’s exciting and the conversation is always really
easy to start.

Communicating in a different language is a daily challenge. Going through culture shock,
and adaptation to a new country, nonverbal and verbal norms can be overwhelming at some
point. Surrendering yourself with people from the same country, or going through the same
changes has a very important role to play in adaptation and well being.