Carifying the Meaning

I know that I have addressed this principle before, but I feel it should be addressed again. I'm grateful that we talked once again during last Monday’s class about symbols. There can be more than one meaning to a symbol. I feel this most often happens with words. Many times people have different meanings for words.

Since we have talked about this I have been paying particular attention to the meaning to words. I find myself asking people to clarify their meaning of a word. I’ve started to do this about 2-3 times per day. For example I will generally say something like, “So what is your meaning of….” Or “What does……..mean to you.”

I have found this to be very helpful as we’ve talked. Because I’ve sought clarification of their meaning for that word, or in other words that symbol, I gain more insight into the overall message they are trying to share with me. It has been great.

I expect that I will continue to do this on a daily basis. Understanding the meaning of a symbol gives me great insight into the message they really are trying to convey. It helps things become clear and I can gain understanding into their personal views. Clarifying meaning of words is a great thing to do. I am going to do this in Mexico.

Many things get lost in translation. I may hear them use a certain word and understand it, but I realize I can misinterpret the meaning of that word. When I stop and ask for clarification of the meaning of that word the message will become clearer to me. This will be good to do if I’m trying to understand and see things they way they understand and see things. I will be sure to do this on a daily basis there. I’m glad I’m starting to get into the habit now so that later in the field it will benefit me.