English is now the world’s third most common native language, and remains, for now the preferred language for world business. With many sectors now having employees who regularly converse in English, the requirement for learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is growing, even in countries where English is considered a native language.
Why do different cultures clash from time to time? It’s all a matter of PERCEPTION. It’s not about what you are like. It’s what I think you are like. The problem is that this perception is probably historical and not up to date. It is only a collection of perpetuated stereotypes which might, to some extent be accurate en-masse, but they almost always fail to capture the truth when it comes down to the individual. Our cross-cultural training was designed to take into account cultural idiosyncrasies without perpetuating cultural stereotypes.
Communicating effectively with your counterparts from other countries enables you to experience a more fruitful relationship. It’s about understanding how they approach life and business and adapting your style to theirs to get the results you want.
It would be easy to imagine that the teaching of English to advanced learners is confined to those teaching English as a Foreign Language in non-English speaking countries like China and many others, but as Jeff Heasman, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Cavendish University explains below, this is far from the truth, and ESP (English for Specific Purposes) is a requirement in many parts of the world where English is an official language – including here in the UK.
In the third of this series on international communication, Barry Tomalin, Author of ‘The World’s Business Cultures and How to Unlock Them’ (Thorogood 2010) and our lead consultant on all things ‘cross-cultural’, offers us an insight into a little tool he has used to record many of the memories of more than 30 years working and travelling in more than 60 countries.
What do you need to know about another country? When you do business with a new company, you check out their website, right? But what do you do if you are doing business in a new country? Most people assume that give or take a few etiquette differences, the business process is the same. Wrong! It’s often entirely different. Even with countries next door to you. So how can you check? Before I reveal a framework that I’ve used for years, I want to underline that cultural and psychological differences and similarities are also expressed in language. For example, a Spaniard may have many things in common with an Italian because their language has a common root – Latin. That’s because they intuitively understand the psychology of the language they’re both speaking. Conversely, if you’re new to, say, the German language and Culture, booking a German Course for businesses (or privates) can also help you understand their psychology, on top of the language, of course.