As the world becomes more global, more and more people are dating outside of their cultural group. Dating someone from a different culture can be challenging but has some incredible benefits changing both your perspective on love and on the world in total.
While you cannot always choose who you love or become involved with, dating someone from a different culture takes some additional work. Here are some tips to more effectively communicating with someone from a different culture.
Be patient with them and embrace the differences
Someone who comes from a different culture may have a very different background than you do. Certain things may offend them that wouldn’t impact someone of your own culture and they may have some preconceptions that are offensive to you.
Learning to understand and embrace these difference can be challenging and will require a significant amount of patience.
Communicating with someone who you are dating who may have certain views and opinions different from yours may be challenging but can be eased by:
- Taking the time to understand where others are coming from
- Being patient when your point isn’t understood or accepted
- Being proactively interested in, but not obsessed by another culture
- Avoiding judgment of their culture and area of interest
- Adopting or seeking to understand interests from their culture
- Slowly introducing them to your culture without overwhelming them
More patience and care are needed when you date someone outside of your culture. Understanding and embracing the differences and being patient with the other person is essential when dating outside of your culture. Embrace what is different and what you like about the person you are dating rather than focus on these differences.
Communicate when you are stressed or insulted
If something that your significant other is doing or saying is stressing you out you should communicate where you are coming from in an non insulting way and describe what you are feeling as a result.
Instead of allowing yourself to get stressed out rom the misunderstanding, communicate your feelings and why it bothers you. Most people you are dating cross-culturally will come to Understand your differences once you are open and communicate them.
Forget about the stereotypes
It is a bad idea to stereotype a person based on their culture. this is particularly true with the person that you were dealing. People from all cultures can have different personalities and understanding this and treating a person as an individual regardless of the culture they are from is important.
For example, Asians are not necessarily Vato people and they were both domicile and aggressive people in any culture. In my home land, Ukraine, Asian men are told to be a very good partner and husband. Ukrainian and Russian women like dating Chinese and Japanese guys (check this guide on Asian-Ukrainian dating)
I search, do not be attracted to a person based upon the stereo typical image of them because the reality is likely to be very different then what you assume.
Learn about their culture and take part in it
Spend some time to get to know the culture and history that the person you were dating emerges from. Learn about their holidays, customs, traditions, and food. Try to take a trip to visit the country and learn about their history, even if only in an cursory way. Doing so can provide you some valuable insight into the person you are dating and where they come from.
Dating a person outside of your culture provides you with great exposure to a different person and their way of life. By taking part in their culture, through their foods, mores, and holidays, you will start to understand their way of life and become more accepting of another person and their culture.
When you are dating somebody from another culture , you will need to learn to love them and appreciate them for who they are and learning about their culture and taking part in the customs is an essential part of this.
Communication pitfalls to avoid
Intercultural relationships need to watch out for several pitfalls that other relationships can sometimes avoid. Family issues are a common one. Many families are not accepting of their family member dating dating outside their culture and fear other groups and their background.
When family members move to ostracize the intercultural relationship it can fall apart quickly. To avoid the breakdown the couple should communicate to their family members the importance of the relationship to them and how it makes them feel.
Family members will often back down when they realize that their family member is happy in their relationship but the intercultural couple will need to communicate with their family members to push acceptance of their relationship.
Another pitfall that intercultural relationships often get bogged down in is their attitude towards serious and devoted relationships and the age at which to pursue one. Some cultures have an average age of marriage significantly younger than others, while other cultures have a more lackadaisical attitude towards marriage.
For example, Russian and Asian cultures tend to marry at a younger age than Americans and Europeans and may place some pressure on their intercultural mate if they are not committing to a relationship early. Communication on your intentions for their relationship and the timeline on when you would be interested in committing, if it is an option, is important to making sure you are in a health relationship.
The same is true of communicating if you want children. While these conversations can be difficult, particularly if you are unwavering on this aspect of the relationship, it can be essential to iron out these problems early in an relationship.
Intimacy requires a lot of communication
Attitudes towards sex can also require some specific communications. Some cultures may treat sex more casually than others and this can be a pitfall in a relationship. Some cultures that are tied closely to religion may not allow sexual contact outside of marriage while in other cultures sex before marriage is the norm.
Intercultural relationships will require open communication around this sensitive area in order to develop clear expectations on what sexual content is allowable or not, and what lines can simply not be cross under any circumstance. Don't presuppose anything; communication is necessary regarding sex between people from different cultures, even if that communication is non-verbal in nature.
Dating is difficult and the difficulty increases when you were dating somebody from a different culture and way of life. However, this does not mean that it is impossible and improved communication can allow your relationship to prosper. It is always advisable to get a personal dating and matchmaking consulting if you are looking for dating a woman from a different culture (for more information check this site).
Consider the aforementioned points and be sure to be patient with a person you were dating, to not judge them too harshly for their positions and viewpoints, and take the time to learn and appreciate that who they are as a person and not as part of a stereotype.
As a result, you’re more likely to develop a positive relationship with a person whether or not it ends up being serious. As in most things, communication is important and essential when dating another a person from another culture.
Christina studied culture and linguistics at the Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany. After graduation, she began writing articles for online newspapers and magazines. She also continues working as a dating blogger and webmaster. In her spare time Christina enjoys spending time with her family and friends in sunny Malta.
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