One of the many concepts that I have learned since I began taking this class earlier this semester is how I realize traits about myself that otherwise I would have never seen. For example, I have noticed myself having thoughts about other people, races, etc. The main problem I see in this is that most of the thoughts that I have come from past experiences or from upbringing. It is hard not to incorporate things from your past into your everyday life. Ethnocentrism to me is something that is not automatic when you are born, but is a learned process throughout the course of your life. The people around you influence your interpretations of things when you are younger and as you grow older, you tend to see these perceptions as the "right" thoughts to have. Even though you do not think about what you are doing or saying it is hard not to express your own feelings toward something, such as your distaste for the practice of a certain religion or disgust with people's sexuality. The most outstanding point of my own ethnocentrism to me is my displeasure when I hear unfamiliar languages. When I hear others speaking in a tongue that I do not understand, it frustrates me that I cannot comprehend what they are saying. For example, you do not ever know one way or the other if they are talking about you, or talking about something very different. In analyzing why I feel this way about other languages, to me it mainly comes from growing up in a small rural area. Throughout school, I was not exposed to any other cultures outside my own. Not being exposed to things like hearing and being able to learn different languages when I was younger makes it harder for me to accept them now. Now that I am older, I feel that I don't have the patience to set down and learn new languages. In saying that I think that is why my most outstanding ethnocentric quality, as you might say, is my dislike or discontent of hearing unfamiliar languages.
