The Community; Options, Barriers and Solutions

I live in west-south-coast Finland a town called Turku. There are a lot of immigrants dwelling in and around Turku and it has been so hard to be able to communicate when it comes to community activities such as sports and outdoor activities…This has been due to the language barriers, traditional reasons and values, cultural adaptation, religion/faith, personal attitude and time.

Anyone struggling to overcome barriers to cultural adaptation knows that being in a new place can be daunting. Foreign scenery, different customs and even other languages often intimidate new arrivals to any country as trying to integrate with the local populace. I myself have had these challenges and what I had done was getting out in the community, avoiding staying cooped up at home, because I realised that when I shelter myself from what's around me, it's harder to learn about my new surroundings. Getting out may mean trying traditional foods, sampling local entertainment, learning the history of my community or even just figuring out how to navigate through the city or town where I am living. Keeping in touch with friends and family back home has also been my priority, for being separated from my country, culture and the people I love and on whom I have always counted for support is understandably difficult.

Secondly ofcourse the langauge berrier I enrolled in a language course, for language barrier is the biggest obstacle not only for me but also for any immgrant for that matter. If you're in a place where local people don't speak your native tongue, you should improve your ability to speak theirs.

I see the Social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace bringing people together who would have otherwise more than likely never come into contact with one another. The groups in Facebook and trending topics on PulseWire allow people from various cultures to come together based on a common interest. Pulse Wire example; now that we (women) are writing juornals posting and reading them; this is bringing women together I call it ‘’Women Power’’. Although people may find that they have some overlapping interests in these online communities, communicating with one another may not feel easy, or even possible, due to language and even cultural barriers which can be frustrating to the parties involved because of the value they may feel they are missing out on from exploring the thoughts and ideals of a potentially like-minded individual, educator or business. But, there are technological features like apps that can help make such cross-cultural communications easier and more understandable for both parties. Apps like Translators allow you to translate in other languages, into your language of choice.

I see the benefits of the continued growth of online communitiies cross-cultural communication, according to me, is that it can essentially help with creating a universal language at least in online settings.
Online communities and networks like Pulse Wire creates an all emcompassing experience that people across the globe can take part in.