Studying abroad is not just always for grabbing a high-paying job or building a startup from scratch. If you talk to the students who moved from their homeland to a new country for studies, thousands of them, if not lakhs, will say that studying abroad is way beyond the things they learn inside the classroom.
Studying abroad gives an opportunity to interact with people from different corners of the world, which leads to effective intercultural communication and paves the way for robust friendships and exploration of unlimited possibilities. If you are an introvert, afraid of the language barriers, and not interested in taking the necessary action to change the way you interact with people, you will be missing out on countless possibilities that your overseas education journey has to offer.
What is intercultural communication?
Intercultural communication is something that happens between people of different cultural backgrounds exchanging opinions with each other and building meaningful conversations that lead to robust relationships. Intercultural communication mostly happens at the university level as many students from different countries meet at a place with some common interests, either in academics or with things that drive them to do what is most meaningful to their lives. Cultural diversity is widely accepted in most places of the world and is even greatly celebrated in mature environments like universities. In fact, cultural diversity is the prime reason that gives opportunities for intercultural communication.
What is intracultural communication?
Intracultural communication happens between people of the same cultural background. But it doesn’t mean that these conversations are of no use while studying abroad. If you meet a student at a university abroad with the same cultural background as yours, it’s an excellent opportunity to explore things that you are unaware of about your own culture. In fact, these conversations sometimes leave you in awe and make you think, how come I miss this wonderful fact about my homeland? Studying abroad gives you the privilege to enhance both intercultural and intracultural communications as you meet people from other countries along with people who are from your country, packed with knowledge that you are not aware of.
Benefits of intercultural communication while studying abroad:
Anyone who seeks admission into a university takes many steps carefully to ensure one thing for sure. That is nothing but a promising career after finishing the course. Apart from the academic aspect, if there is one thing that drives students to study abroad, that is to explore various facets of life and their passion by considering the perspectives of people of different mindsets. In simple words, intercultural communication is one of the key factors that drive students to take up studies abroad. International Study tours are another opportunity to get a glimpse of how it feels when we get exposed to a completely new culture. Now, let’s understand the various benefits of intercultural communication.
Meet intellectual folks from different corners:
Whether it’s school, college, or university, there is more possibility to learn new things from the peers and instructors themselves than from the course curriculum. Networking is the most crucial aspect of advancing in studies. By enrolling in universities abroad, students can enjoy the privilege of interacting with exceptional minds from various parts of the world, which the students would otherwise miss had they opted to study in their home country. Who knows? A guy with whom you usually chit-chat could become the mind behind the success of the next Fortune 500 company. Intercultural communication can significantly help in having meaningful conversations with the sharpest minds that are going to leave an impact on the world.
Read the mindsets of people from different cultures:
If you want to be an entrepreneur and want to run a business on a large scale that expands all over the world, then you would love to know what drives a particular person to make a purchase. A product can’t be marketed the same way in all countries, and it should be taken into people’s minds based on their interests. So, intercultural communication helps students who are aspirational about starting a business and taking it to the global level. Of course, we can’t really read the minds of people or a set of people with similar cultural backgrounds just by interacting with a couple of people at university. But it can significantly help to get an idea about how things work.
Expand the network beyond boundaries:
It is widely believed that our network is our net worth. Studying abroad gives an exceptional opportunity to students to build international connections. If you can’t build practical intercultural communication skills, you will miss a lot of opportunities to expand your network and make big things in the world. In countries like the United States, the UK, Canada, and Australia, there will be high chances to meet people coming from almost every part of the country. So, it’s highly recommended to choose your study abroad destination by thorough research and expanding the network regularly, and appreciate the cultural diversity to get the best out of your study abroad experience.
Learn cultural adaptation:
Students who move abroad for the first time in their life to pursue studies are highly likely to face trouble in adapting to a new culture. There will be many students facing the same situation, just like you. That’s when an international student must understand the power of intercultural communication and exchange experiences with students from other nations along with the natives to make themselves comfortable in a new country. Learning cultural adaption is even more crucial if you want to settle abroad. You being an international student, can easily get it done while studying at a university by understanding intercultural communication to adapt yourself to foreign conditions.
Learn a new language:
Learning new things always comes with a lot of fun. Languages are one of those crucial aspects that create what we refer to as cultures. Student diversity in the classroom is the reason why universities prefer a common language like English for conducting classes. But, international students can leverage that diversity and build strong relationships by doing things like exploring each other’s languages. This may not seem time worthy to many people, but learning a new language is always worth the time and effort because of the unexpected benefit that an individual can reap in the coming years of his life.
Conclusion:
Overseas education always opens up doors for exceptional opportunities. Apart from the tremendous career opportunities that one can reap by studying abroad, international students can avail the privilege of intercultural communication to learn from the experiences of students from different cultural backgrounds. That’s the reason why, in the recent past, many students are showing more interest in pursuing their higher education abroad to unlock limitless opportunities.
