Good Neighbors: Communicating With the Mexicans (Interact Series)

Rating:
Summary: Undermining the Beauty of Mexican Culture
Review: Good Neighbors is plagued with comparisons between the United States and Mexican culture. Presenting the material in this way is by no means objective and burns more bridges than it builds. Exhibiting cultural material as a ratioed math problem: X culture=this while Y culture=this, is an unfair comparison. Each culture is rich and diverse in its own right and Condon fails to get this message to his reader. It is a good book if you want to understand American culture...NOT Mexican culture.

Rating:
Summary: How different we really are!
Review: Having traveled back and forth from the States to Mexico on numerous occasions I have found Condon's book very helpful in aiding in my understanding of the Mexican culture and mindset. Whether it be Christian short term missionaries or business men his analysis of the culture is very insightful. The past is what propels Mexicans while the future pulls us Americans forward. Mexicans have a much larger inclusive concept for the family than we Americans do. Mexicans also have two views of truth: Objective and interpersonal. Their speech is also more emotive than ours. Their concepts of time are also very different. These are just a few of the new things that can be learned from reading this book.