Whether you realize it or not, your culture affects your communication all the time. More than just your race or ethnicity, cultural traits like age, physical abilities, social class, and even your values and beliefs influence how you view yourself as well as how you perceive others.

In the United States, cultural diversity is rapidly increasing. By 2020, for example, more than half the nation’s children (people under age 18) will be nonwhite—including Latino, Asian, African American, and mixed-raced children (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). International student enrollments in the country are also on the rise (Institute of International Education, 2014), so your classmates are just as likely to be from Seoul as Seattle. Plus, with all the smartphones, tablets, and laptops available, there is easy access to people all over the world. This enables you to conduct business and personal relationships on a global level in a way never possible before. As your daily encounters increasingly cross cultural lines, the question arises: What exactly is culture?