Intercultural Communication

Communication is tough. It’s tough making yourself clear whether it’s your best friend, your brother, boss, teacher, child, or spouse. There are so many ways to communicate and each person has their own preferences. Layer on different languages and cultural context cues, and you will often find that communication is more complex than you were expecting. When we break down how people communicate in the intercultural world, we have two categories: verbal communication and non-verbal communication. These categories transcend cultural preferences and are an accurate way to categorize communication. Within these two main categories, there are multiple sub-topics that we use to compare different facets of communication. Verbal Verbal communication encompasses all forms of communication where you use words and language. It’s easy to assume that verbal communication is only comprised of words, but there is a great deal more than just what is spoken.   One of the ways verbal communicat...

Why is intercultural communication important for business? We need to work with customers, partners and perhaps even employees that live in other countries. And here in Canada, multiculturalism is increasing rapidly! We need to recognize that our workforce is changing to one of more diverse cultures. The business world is becoming more interconnected. Those that resist or deny may find disadvantage in: • Recruiting & retaining skilled employees • Attracting new customers and/or keeping existing customers • Securing high value suppliers & other partners in the value chain On the other hand, those organizations that are proactive to implement a diversity strategy will have an advantage in the above. But how can we implement a diversity strategy unless we can improv intercultural communication? What is holding us back? • As we often focus only on the language aspect, we miss key aspects of communication. • At a deeper level, we may have very different context in how we perceive ...

Intercultural Communication This Blog will expose you to the variety of approaches we use to study intercultural communication. We also weave into the text our personal stories to make theory come alive. By linking theory and practice, we hope to give a fuller picture of intercultural communication than either one alone could offer. We bring many intercultural communication experiences to the text. As you read, you will learn not only about both of us as individuals but also about our views on intercultural communication. Don’t be overwhelmed by the seeming complexity of intercultural communication. Not knowing everything that you would like to know is very much a part of this process. Why is it important to focus on intercultural communication and to strive to become better at this complex pattern of interaction? We can think of at least seven reasons; perhaps you can add more. THE SELF-AWARENESS IMPERATIVE One of the most important reasons for studying intercultural communica...