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How’s your Anglophone reception?
Hollywood raises the bar on ethnic authenticity
Culture is a minefield. Tread carefully.
Five words that should be imported into English
The blogosphere across different hemispheres
What’s the meaning of green in Greenland?
Lost in Translation: Strange signs from abroad
When your translator is truly checked out…
Beware of Slippy: For Shanghai, Chinglish is no laughing matter
Lost in Translation: Verizon Wireless
How well do you know your target market?
Is Twitter ready to go global?
In India, Microsoft and Google go local in a big way
It’s Miller Time in North Korea
Global road warriors: learn to fit it all in one bag
In China: All atwitter about microblogging
Does Crowdsourcing have a Place in the Translation Industry?
The Era of Open Standards is here
Translation Tools Without Borders
Content Convergence: Come Together Write Now
Beijing’s Olympic Task: Serving Up Gold-Medal English
How’s your Anglophone reception?
By Prisma News
Category:
We all speak English, so this should be easy, right? That was the assumption, anyway, as a group of American entrepreneurs in Minneapolis as they sat down for a day-long meeting with a prospective British business partner. Ten hours later, though much had been proposed and discussed, it wasn’t clear whether much had been understood: Was there agreement? Was the British partner on board? Should the group interpret his seemingly lukewarm approval as criticism or encouragement? What were the next steps? Should they ask his opinion point-blank…or might that jeopardize the deal?
Wondering whether he was witnessing a cultural gap between British and American communication styles, this writer decided to check in with two friends who could shed some light on the pitfalls of cross-puddle communication. Nancy is the CEO of a Minneapolis-based company that has offices in Madrid and London. She has lived in Madrid for the past 20 years and works closely with staffers and clients from every continent. Gary, a born-and-bred Brit, is CTO at the same company, and has more than 15 years’ experience collaborating with employees and consultants from the UK, Spain, the U.S. and India, to name a few.
So, what did they have to say on the subject of Anglo-American business relations? First, Nancy’s take:
“Vocabulary can trip you up. For example, “to table” — in one country, it means take action, in another to defer it – but the most glaring difference is in our communications style and sense of humor. It takes time to gain a working knowledge of British “irony.” When you do, you will revel in our cousins’ company.
For the best idea of how Brits see us, look at the dialogue and accent given to the CIA in the BBC show “Spooks” (MI5 in the United States). Rarely a scene goes by that doesn’t have an American blasting in a room, talking tough (and impressing no one). I watched that show for several seasons thinking “what odd characters” before I realized that THIS is who THEY think we are!”
Interesting. Who can argue with the idea of watching thrilling TV dramas as a form of cultural research?
Now let’s hear from Gary:
“I am not sure that I have ever left a meeting with Americans and not understood things. I have personal ideas about how things might work but I am not sure they are country specific. There are always idiotic, creative, obnoxious, kind, ruthless, gentle, clever, disgusting people in every country.”
Hmm. Kind of disappointing. I was hoping that a native Londoner, of all people, would be ready, nay, itching to point out American cultural foibles. Perhaps Gary exhibiting a cultural tendency to demure so as to avoid direct confrontation? Or is he just terribly kind and tolerant? Having worked with Gary, I suspect the latter.
Still, it is well known that the communications and work style differences between Americans and Britons are the cause for much trouble in business dealings and in overseas assignments.
As DeeDee Doke writes in HR Magazine:
“Dealing with a language that’s like your own but full of different turns of phrase, unexpected meanings and unfamiliar nuances is not the only challenge that U.S. expatriates will face when on assignment in the United Kingdom. British attitudes about work, personal ambition, individualism, efficiency, business meetings and communications may run counter to your employees’ experiences and expectations. The conflicts that arise can limit the success of their U.K. assignments—and your organization’s effectiveness.
There’s also a chasm between American and British business cultures—traceable, some experts say, to the United States’ Puritan roots—and it can leave professionals from both countries frustrated, mystified and often angry when trying to collaborate in the workplace.”
Doke goes on to describe different approaches companies have taken to prepare their British and American employees to collaborate more effectively, from candidate screening to in-country cultural sensitivity mentoring. Given that she wrote her article in December of 2004, however, it’s possible that methods have changed. In the current economy, some employees might be lucky to be directed to the Wikipedia entry on American and British differences prior to assignment.
What has been your experience communicating with other Anglophones? Do you have any hard-earned advice for understanding (and being understood by) people from other English-speaking countries? Do you have any stories of success or failure that you can share?
For further reading
HR Magazine: “Perfect Strangers: Cultural and linguistic differences between U.S. and U.K. workers necessitate training for expatriates”
Links on the barbeque
By Prisma News
Category:
It’s summer and if you’re in middle America, there’s a good chance you’ll be throwing something on the grill this weekend. But is barbeque a strictly American tradition? Actually, many countries around the world have their own takes on the concept of grilling, some of them dating back to prehistory. Curious about the world beyond ribs, hamburgers and steaks? Check this out.
Now, on to today’s selection of links. Bon appétit!
- Portfolio.com: Beyond the Border Costco, Amazon, and Starbucks are already among the nation’s top retailers, but that’s not stopping them from aggressively pursuing growth opportunities overseas.
- Boing Boing: How the military improved its language education Nothing warms our hearts more than hearing that the U.S. government is becoming more culturally sensitive. And over the past few years, the U.S. military has been updating how it trains soldiers for cross-cultural interactions, including looking at visual and cultural literacy.
- Portfolio.com: USA or No Way How’s this for a cultural play? Mark Andol’s store has an unusual taret market: American men.
- The Economist: Out of thin air: The behind-the-scenes logistics of Kenya’s mobile-money miracle Heard of the M-PESA? Nearly 10 million Kenyans use this digital currency to transfer funds, pay bills, make loans. According to some, this Kenyan innovation just might be the future of payments.
- Yahoo! News: Twitter a Hit in Japan as Millions “Mumble” Online Twitter is succeeding in Japan where other social networks like Facebook have foundered as millions “mumble” (the translation of tweet), giving mini-blogging a distinctly Japanese flavor.
Hollywood raises the bar on ethnic authenticity
By Prisma News
Category:
Long gone, apparently, are the days when Charlton Heston could simply don a mustache and pass as a Mexican on the silver screen. According to a recent story on NPR’s Morning Edition:
“A new TV drama starting next month follows a Florida sugar-cane dynasty of Cuban-Americans. The cast of Cane went through extensive coaching to make sure their accents sounded Cuban, not Puerto Rican or Colombian — because audiences increasingly know the difference.”