Cultural competence is the ability to understand and effectively interact with people from cultures different from our own. It also means being able to negotiate cross-cultural differences to accomplish practical goals. Multicultural competence requires the following: * a basic understanding of your own culture and ethnicity * a willingness to learn about the cultural practices and world view of others * a positive attitude toward cultural differences * a willingness to accept and respect these differences Cultural competence has four major components: awareness, attitude, knowledge and skills.