Effective Cross-Cultural Communication Tips

1. Effective Cross-Cultural Communication Tips Melanie Manares Kansas State Department of Education

2. Before you begin… • Learn how to pronounce the person’s name and how to address him/her • Learn about appropriate eye or physical contact • Be aware of inappropriate gestures • Avoid taboo subjects • Know some basic words and phrases

3. When there is no interpreter…(yet) • Speak slowly • Use short sentences • Talk about one thing at a time • Use the active voice • Avoid idioms and jargon • Avoid vague modifiers • Use positive phrasing • Limit the use of contractions

4. Most importantly… • Be patient • Listen carefully and attentively • Reassure attempts at English • Gently encourage practicing English

5. Don’t leave out the interpreter! • Recipients of federal funds are to obtain interpreter services for limited English proficient persons. • Go to www.lep.gov for more information.

6. Using an interpreter… NO MINOR CHILDREN

7. Using an interpreter… • Customers should not be told to provide an interpreter • Be sure that the interpreter is fully bilingual and familiar with both cultures • Ensure that the interpreter is knowledgeable about the subject

8. Using an interpreter… • Conduct a pre-conference • Use proper seating arrangement • Speak to the client, not to the interpreter

9. Different Types of Cultures… • Less formal address • Authority? Whose authority? • Youth and beauty are valued • Clock • Task • Independence • More formal address • Deeper respect for authority • Age and wisdom are valued • What clock? • Relationship • Interdependence

10. Linear Direct/explicit Yes means yes Being up front Smile means friendly, warm and inviting Punctual Name is my own Animals make great pets Round about Indirect/implicit Yes means not no Saving face Smile means not serious, flaky, inviting Pushy Name is my family’s Animals are dirty and should be left outside Norms are not the norm

11. Snack or Sick? Morsel or Immoral? • Would you change your diet if you lived somewhere where it was the norm, or a necessity, or your only sustenance? – How much would you change? • Are rats to be revered or reviled? Are pigs delicious or disgusting? Are cows sacred or supper? Are dandelions a wine or a weed?

12. What’s appropriate? • Shake hands • Look someone in the eye • Bring flowers when you visit someone in the hospital • Wear white to a funeral • Clap in church or express yourself vocally during the service

13. Is it strange to…? • Give someone a birthday gift • Take your shoes off when you enter someone’s home • Kiss someone hello • Take food to a grieving family • Use physical force as a means of discipline

14. Is it uncomfortable to…? • Wash your feet before you enter a place of worship • Accept food someone offers but not eat it • Give your shoes or jewelry to someone who admires them

15. Understand … • that people naturally bring their own norms to the table. They operate under the rules they know to be correct. • that someone’s odd behavior may be odd only to you. They may find your reaction to their normal behavior equally odd.

16. Misunderstandings occur when… people employ different rules or different norms to a shared situation.

17. Trouble begins when… people think that their way is the only way or is the way that makes the most sense, and they refuse to look at the situation differently or from another perspective.

18. Solutions happen when people… • have more possibilities in mind • have more willing acceptance of new or different ideas • have positive experiences to rely on • compromise, bend, learn, ask, give, and take.

19. Send questions, comments, and requests for information to: Melanie Manares (785) 296-7929 mmanares@ksde.org