Kartik's web poster brings up a very prevalent set of issues in today's global workplace. Inter-cultural communication unknowingly leads to many mis-communications and/or mis-understandings. Working with global teams, I find I must be careful to speak clearly and not use slang terminology or colloquialisms.
My first officemate ever had recently come to the U.S. from Hong Kong. While he spoke English fluently, he was determined to REALLY fit in... so he bought a huge book of colloquialisms. I cringed every time he would call something we were doing "groovy" or "that's so phat!" Flipping through the book, they had slang terms that I've never even heard of! Eventually I got tired of correcting him all the time (he asked me to point out any mis-use). I told him that he was trying to hard and stood out even more as a result.
Another personal anecdote - a cople years ago I went abroad on a business trip. I had trouble communicating with the language barrier, so I resorted to hand gestures and facial expressions. It was after a night of drinking and an almost fight that I was informed... signing "thumbs up" ... meant "F* You" in their culture! Ooops!
Streaning Star Trek: Insurrection Full Movie
6 years ago
1 comment:
If only I had a dollar for every time I made some sort of social communication blunder...
1. I used to greet people by showing them a backwards peace sign. This did not take well in England for some reason. I later on realized that it meant "F* You"
2. I didn't know that the term "hooked up" meant one night stands. I used to use it in a context meaning that 2 people met up with one another. I was wondering why some of my friends thought I was spreading rumors. Oops!
I try to be more careful about what I say these days but I still make little mistakes every now and then.
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