Just this morning I was thinking about the cultural differences between people from different countries, and people's sense of cultural identity. I guess it's particularly relevant when you think about learning a new language such as English, or Japanese. Most of the time, people would be so focused on getting the language itself perfect, such as learning more vocabulary, using the correct grammar structures, that they lose focus on the big picture in general. What I mean by the big picture is precisely the cultural background. Like almost everything else, language doesn't exsit in a vacuum. It is constantly evolving and changing, depending on the circumstances and environment. I thought about what it means to learn a language, and what it means to understand a culture, and even more importantly, what it means to become part of a new culture. Do you lose your old culture if you merge in with the new one? Do you identify with a culture just because you were born in a country? Or because you grew up there? Spent your childhood there? Or is it the place that you are living now? Or simply the place where you've been the longest? Or more fundamentally, Is it just because you look like you are from that culture, that you identify with them? These questions are really hard to answer. Actually, I think there is no right answer to any of the questions. It depends on what you see is true for yourself, everyone will have a different answer based on thier own criteria. --

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