Group 3

Amy, Elaine, Belinda, Karen

(Japanese, Sophomore)

Composition 2

 Will You Marry a Foreigner?  

    There are both pros and cons about marrying someone from different cultures. For instance, when a person comes to Taiwan by him or herself, he or she will face cultural differences from his or her own. It means culture shock is a serious issue he or she must encounter. Frankly speaking, it’s already difficult enough to leave one’s hometown, family, and friends to go on to a whole new place and not be prepared for the issues one is going to confront with. In some cases, learning how to live in another country is almost like starting to learn how to walk again since it’s about the matter of surviving. If the culture and customs are not similar to their place of origin, living in a foreign country will turn to be a nightmare to them. We can imagine that learning a new language is the most difficult challenge to most people. Even though he or she is becoming familiar with the language or can speak it fluently, the learning process is challenging and difficult especially when a person’s ways and customs are rejected by the new country. We are living in a rapidly changing world with a variety of cultures, customs and concepts. Although we say we are living in a Global Village, we have to admit that there are many visible and invisible differences to influence our behavior. After the brief introduction, have you ever thought about marrying someone from different culture? There are advantages and disadvantages. Your decision should be based on these conditions.

    Marrying a foreigner sounds wonderful. First, you can learn different cultures when you marry someone from a different country. You can also broaden your horizons because of this experience. Second, you can meet more native speakers and have many opportunities to practice the foreign language you are learning. Third, you can go abroad for festivals to know their very fascinating culture and customs. You will become an open-minded and active person. However, these kinds of experience might never happen to you if you marry someone from your own culture. 

    However, many couples of intermarriage end up divorce. First, there is the problem of communication and language dissimilarity. Sometimes you might express something that just opposes to your true meaning because of the gap of different languages. Your spouse cannot understand you not to say his relatives, friends, or the locals. Sometimes government polices are difficult for a foreign spouse to figure out. Under these circumstances, he or she feels frustrated when getting things done. For example, once one decides to settle down in a foreign country after getting married, how can he or she get the permission to live in this country? To get identification card is troublesome while finding a steady job to earn income is problematic too. Others such as value identification or social status give the newcomer the feeling of being isolated and rejected. Different growing background also leads the couple to dispute. All in all, so many things are different and foreign spouses have to overcome many obstacles.

    Nowadays, more and more people marry spouses from different nationalities. Some people take it for granted, but some still can’t accept it. Is it right or wrong to marry a foreigner? There’s no answer. It depends. A proverb says, “All men are brothers.” For intermarriage, love disregarding dissimilarities is essential. We also say, “Take things as they come.” But sometimes we still cannot objectively treat the person who is different from us. We are easy to be irritated by differences. However, maybe it is easier said than done.
　

612 words