Communications is More Than Just a Field of Study

I use to think that communications was all about public relations, journalism and digital design. However, once you step outside your cultural norm you realize that there is much more to it then just the things you learn about in the classroom.

Communications also has to do with how you interact with people in other settings outside of the business world. For example, we have now traveled from London to Germany to Prague, and in each of these countries a different language was spoken. You could tell that people were more comfortable in their surroundings while in London because there was no language barrier-- you could read the menu, talk to locals and understand maps/road signs. Then when we moved on to Germany and Prague things started to change-- it was more difficult to read the menu, it was harder to talk to locals and it seemed almost impossible at times to read maps/road signs. 

People often overlook how much of an impact a different language has on your communication with others. Lacking this sense of communication, that seems so easy, ends up being one of the hardest things to deal with on your time abroad while, interacting with different people from different cultures. 

I believe no one truly realizes that language is also a communications skill. It's not just about the things you learn in your communications classes it is also about being able to communicate with those around you, in their native language. Therefore, learning and experiencing new cultures and languages is an important, everyday life skill because it helps you communicate with others outside your cultural norm.

Personally, as much as I love to travel and continue to make an endless bucket list of places of where I would like to go, traveling is hard for me. It pushes me outside my comfort zone specifically because of the language barriers in other countries. Although this has never and will never stop me from traveling it is definitely a state of anxiety I seem to never be able to get rid of. I like to be able to communicate with the people around me, and not being able to speak to others in their native language is hard for me. However, if there is something I have learned from this trip it is that although language barriers build up some anxiety, it is okay, it comes with the package of traveling. If I do not step outside my comfort zone I will never learn the culture of others and will never learn how to communicate in any way with someone who does not speak English.

Traveling is part of learning to communicate in other ways such as learning the basics of another language such as the words "yes", "no" and "thank you" or simply point at an object. You pick up and learn communications everyday no matter where we are in the world-- we just don't realize it. It also makes you sensitive to other cultures, which ultimately I believe will translate into my communications education at Elon because it will make me more effective at communicating to different audiences.

-Jordyn Jaffe