—Richard D. Lewis’s book ‘When Cultures Collide”
Intercultural and interpersonal communication is of great importance in this global arena where we need to interact with people from different countries and cultures who behave, communicate and perceive the world around them in a different manner.
My CG1413 team comprises of people from different races and culture. There is a Vietnamese, a Chinese and me, an Indian. In the beginning we were formal with each other as we had no idea how that other person would react to our words. As time passed, we started knowing each other better. While working in the team; I ensure effective intercultural communication so that I don’t offend my teammates. We try to understand each other and the cultural differences between us by sharing our past experiences.
However, language forms one of the biggest barriers in intercultural communication. I remember once my teammate said that while interacting with us he makes sure that he does not use Singlish. Often we come across situations when people from a different culture are talking in their own language that we fail to understand. Here is a short video depicting how an Italian person got misinterpreted in a foreign land:
I believe that respect for each other’s culture is necessary to bridge the intercultural gap. Every individual has his own perspective of looking at things. Sometimes intentions are also misinterpreted so it is important that we don’t jump to conclusions without understanding the situation. The video below depicts the meaning of silence in Japanese culture and how it varies along different cultures. It shows the power of silence in different situations.
Hence, I believe that it is necessary to be sensitive towards the different cultures and respect them to ensure effective intercultural and interpersonal communication.
12 comments:
Hi Nitika,
The video was definitely humorous. But I think it is an Italian instead of a Japanese. (Maybe just a typo error)
Such incidents do happen (maybe not as exaggerated as the video), thus getting feedback is important for clarity purposes. When working in our teams, always try to clarity so as to understand the message better.
Being sensitive and respectful towards other cultures is definitely the best way to start when we are working with one another.
The saying at the start is very meaningful too.
Regards,
Kevin :)
That video in your post is a good way of showing how a common language can be misinterpreted just because of the different cultures. In Singapore, we might say "i need a fork", and that addition of the word "a" certainly would reduce the chances of people misinterpreting as i need a f*ck(as per the video).
Hi Nitika, I really like reading your posts, the inclusion of videos always make it more interesting! Much better than just text all the way.
I think it's true that language plays a huge part in understand each other, however I would disagree that we fail to understand people talking in their own language. While we would not have any idea what is being said, we could always ask for translations and not jump to conclusions. I think it's more of a problem when both are speaking the same language, but due to slang/accents we transmit the wrong message, as seen in your Italian man Video.
I also do like the layout of your blog. The inclusion of paragraphing and the videos/pictures help to separate the posts into manageable chunks of reading. Keep it up!
Hi Nitika,
Good way to start the post with a quote. It was an appropriate one as well. As you mentioned, respecting other cultures is imperative. Their beliefs and way of doing things may clash with ours but we must not use that as a reason to judge the other culture or disrespect them. Only by setting these differences aside can we work comfortably in our groups.
Your posts are concise and clear and the visuals make it for an interesting read. Keep it up!
Hi Nitika,
I liked the way you started off your blog with a relevant quote.Also your blog is concise and straight to the point.Your video on cultural misunderstanding is really humorous and illustrated the importance of "clarification".People from different cultures speak with completely different accents and clarification would always help reduce any misunderstandings which can arise.This is really important while working in a team.
On the whole,nicely written.
Cheers,
Meenu
Hey Kelvin,
Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I didn't realise that I wrote it wrongly by chance. Next time I'll make sure that I avoid such silly mistakes. The video was humorous though a bit too much miscommunication happened in it but it was just an example to highlight how miscommunication could happen between people from different cultures.
Hope to keep receiving constructive comments from you.:) :)
Best Regards,
Nitika
Hey Byron,
I feel that part from the written text audio and visual aids matter a lot. Videos are a good means to communicate your message. So, I spend some time trying to look for some good ones to make my blog more interesting. I am glad you like my efforts.
Thanks for your encouraging comments. Hope to keep up my work in future and receive constructive comments which help me improvise upon my skills.
:) :)
Best Regards,
Nitika
Hey Rax,
Thanks for appreciating my work. Regarding that different language thing, I wanted to say that sometimes when Chinese people are talking in Chinese and we are standing with them we tend to feel left out as we can’t understand Chinese. So these situations do happen in our daily life. I do agree that even while talking in same language there can be miscommunication which is effectively shown in the video.
I will be looking forward to your comments on my future posts.:)
Thanking You,
Best Regards,
Nitika
Hey Ganesh,
Thanks for appreciation. I will try my best to keep writing interesting posts so that the readers have a great time reading it.
Keep giving me comments so that I can improve myself.
:) :)
Best Regards,
Nitika
Hey Meenu,
Thanks for your encouraging words and appreciation.
:) :)
Best Regards,
Nitika
Hi Nitika,
I really enjoy reading your entry, especially the quote that you gave at the start. The video is really hilarious :) (I still remember watching this videos 5 years ago when it first came out), and it serves as a good example on how serious miscommunication due to cultural difference can be.
However, perhaps you could elaborate more on your examples, and show us how understanding of other culture could have helped.
Nevertheless, it was well written :).
Hey Loius,
I know I could elaborate but the word limit is a constraint. But then I'll try to work upon it and give proper explanation.
Thanks for your constructive comments. Hope to get them in future as well.
Thanking You,
Best Regards,
Nitika
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