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Permalink Reply by Mayank on March 27, 2008 at 2:14am

A big part of my undergraduate study is dealing with communication in what we marketers call "The Global Village" where the workplaces nowadays are really diverse as far as their ethnic mix is concerned and also that many western countries themselves are starting to see their demographics change to a very mixed and multi-cultural set up.

Other than language there are non verbal signals we send that make alot of difference in communication like making eye contact is considered threatening in some cultures/countries while in others it might mean that the person is honest and truthful. Also there are things like humour which may be perceived in some countries as a way of 'breaking the ice' but may be considered disrespectful in some countries. The main problem i have found personally in inter-cultural communication is that in some cultures the same things may have different meanings depending on which context they are used in but in most western cultures the context is not seen as important compared to the actual message itself.

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Permalink Reply by Alex V. on March 27, 2008 at 10:59am

I think the biggest problem when trying to communicate with someone is meaning, trying to get your ideas understood correctly. And that's because of language, context, culture and all the differences between each one of us. No two people are alike, so trying to overcome those differences by understanding and accepting them while also focusing on the common things between us is in my opinion the key to better communication.

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Permalink Reply by Dreamer on March 28, 2008 at 8:40pm

Well the example that you set was really a problem of misinterpretation and the people that described the person as "open" didnt really use the english words properly so its kinda their fault.If both sides really speak the common language well than there should be no problems at all.

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Permalink Reply by Dale on March 29, 2008 at 1:05am

Time zones is actually the thing i find most annoying. Most of the world is asleep when I'm awake. I suppose thats the problem with living in Australia

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Permalink Reply by LVS on March 31, 2008 at 1:19am

Hear hear! Especially since the Australian time zone can be confusing 'oh wait - its tomorrow there?'.

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Permalink Reply by Flamekebab on March 31, 2008 at 1:22am

WELCOME TO THE WOOOOORLD OF TOMORROW!

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Permalink Reply by LVS on March 31, 2008 at 1:45am

The Island of Tomorrow technically :oP

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Permalink Reply by Chickee on March 29, 2008 at 9:12pm

It's good to talk to the people in the community.
There's nothing wrong with knowing who's in your surroundings.
Talking to people from other countries is most important. Being respectful and patient is too.
Assumptions are Rude and Ignorant!.....
If you don't understand do not come to your own conclusion of who someone else is by how they look like.

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Permalink Reply by RychlewC on March 30, 2008 at 10:06am

I think a large problem is how easy it is for young students to get out of the language classes. America makes a large problem even bigger by not pushing 2, 3, or even 4 languages down our throats at a young age when we can retain it easily.

My dream is to get out of America and travel to places I have studied like Argentina, Peru, Brazil. Unfortunately I have no idea how to speak Spanish and I am quite sure from what I have studied that I would not really "blend in" with such a deeply cultured society. Making my second point that culture is key in communication, one can speak a language but to live the language is something that can not always be mastered. but I mean random internet conversations are easy enough as long as it is in English. Sorry, I was one of the "get me out of language class" kids, sadly...

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Permalink Reply by Flamekebab on March 30, 2008 at 10:28am

I think this rather illustrates my point of view that sometimes short-term freedoms should be sacrificed for long-term gain. You may not want to learn something at the time, but as the old saying goes "you'll thank me when you're older". This is one of the major problems I have with modern Western culture where we can get away with not doing things just because we don't want to.
Sometimes whether we want to do something or not should be irrelevant.

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Permalink Reply by RychlewC on March 30, 2008 at 4:16pm

I mean I have to blame the fact that my French teacher was really bitchy and I don't know why they didn't make me try Spanish after failing French haha The shcool let me take art classes and play with CAD software instead and I use that to this day... But yea I really wish I would have been able to do the Tech/Art route and make time for Spanish, being that like half of America speaks Spanish now. Totally agree with you Flamekebab.

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Permalink Reply by Flamekebab on March 30, 2008 at 5:01pm

I could never learn French when I was younger, I've no intention of trying again any time soon. I tried Spanish and it just clicked, I found it pretty easy, so yeah, teach Spanish!

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