Welcome to our university.

I will introduce to you on how our academic culture are shaped by our
communication practices. I know that our culture is quite different from yours and you are not familiar
with it, so, let me do the honor and start my discussion.

The most important thing to understand about the culture of students in the Philippines is that power
distance is highly valued at all times and in all places. Filipino students are respectful and courteous to
those who are older and in positions of authority. We refer to fellow students who are older than us as
"ate" or "kuya," with the former referring to older females and the latter to males. You'll also notice that
we frequently add "po" and "opo" to our phrases, which both essentially indicate "yes" in a respectable
manner, rather than simply stating “oo” or yes. We address everyone who is not a student at this school
as "Ma'am" or "Sir," from deans to instructors to cashiers, and even those who assist in the cleaning and
maintenance of the school, such as janitors. Because we are extremely respectful of others, it is critical
that these communication practices to be observed on a daily basis. So, as far as possible, we avoid
addressing people solely by their names; instead, we use the terms that I indicated earlier to avoid
offending anyone. It's also vital to note that the power distance between students and teachers here is
really wide, so we always remember to treat them with respect and do not approach them hastily,
instead be polite.

Another thing about Filipino students, is that almost each one of us prefer to work by group and we
always support each other, or the trait called as collectivistic orientation. We always communicate and
help each other by group at studies, life problems, and even love lives, and we always discuss onto it as
a group. You may misunderstand this only as too dependable with each other, but we are also generous,
helpful, dependable, and attentive to the needs of others that is why we practice that, especially in
school premises. You can also observe this in every Filipino home, and we always practice this trait with
our family.

This was short but I hoped you have learned something from this. It was nice meeting you and I hope
you will enjoy your stay to our university, and possibly, practice communication standards that I have
mentioned earlier. I expect that you have understood and learned how communication practices in our
school shape and reflect our academic culture.