What Is Culture?

Culture, the word given to the totality of social practices, beliefs, arts, philosophies, literature, etc., of a particular country or region, is very broad and encompasses a huge area. It includes all the traditional values and beliefs of a people, and their notable customs and rituals, modes of social organization, and typical activities and rituals. It also includes the customs and traditions carried on by the individuals who compose a certain country or region. It is a very important factor determining the level of development of a society.

People belonging to different cultures have varying ways of interacting with each other, as well as with the environment. The term “culture” can be used in many ways to refer to these differences. One can speak of a national culture or a cultural group, for example. A specific type of culture can be linguistic, political, or cultural. In most cases, though, “culture” describes the body language of a culture, the shared practices and beliefs that characterize a community of cultures, the visual art forms, and even the literature and arts produced by the various communities.

The body language of a culture may vary depending on the age, sex, status, or ethnicity of the person speaking it. Different cultures might have different ways of interpreting the facial expressions of somebody else, for example, or might interpret colors differently. People from different cultures will also have widely varying perceptions of beauty, love, war, honor, beauty, and money. Thus, the interpretation of facial expressions and so on, becomes very important. A cultural training school will provide teachers, who have experience in dealing with such issues, proper cultural sensitivity training, such as gender sensitivity training.