Living and working in the world that exists today, exposes us all to different cultures and people groups all of which have their own varying methods of communicating. Our world is quickly becoming an increasingly global community as advances in technology allow us to connect immediately with people from all over the world. Because of increasing ability to connect with people from around the world, proper intercultural communication strategies are as important as ever. In his article Ten Commandments of Intercultural Communication, Martin Hahn discusses useful guidelines for productive intercultural communication. Some tips that he suggests for successful intercultural communication are:
1. Be aware of personal space: people from different cultures have different comfort zones.
2. Be aware of different etiquette rules or manners: what is polite in one culture may be considered rude in another;
3. Be aware of language barriers: English is the most prevalent language in international business, but it's a mistake to assume that everyone understands it.
He also states that one should find out about any subcultures, particularly a business subculture and any special rules. (Hahn, 2005)
Being active duty military certainly presents the opportunity for me to come into contact with people from different cultures. I worked as a Marine Security overseas for three years and lived and worked with people from different cultures every day. I have also deployed to Afghanistan which put in me in contact with several foreigners aside from the Afghan people. Keeping the tips for successful intercultural communication in mind has helped me be successful in my business dealings with those from other cultures and it has also helped me to win and maintain lasting friendships with them as well.
I have always tried to keep in mind that a little respect goes a long way to achieving successful communication with other cultures. Respect is a basic desire that all human beings share. I have found that often, people from other cultures understand that we do not know their language or completely understand all the nuances of their culture, but what they mainly would like to see is that we at least try to meet them on their level in some way. They want to see that we are trying to be sensitive to their cultural rules and values. Doing so will help us all be able to communicate successfully regardless of the culture.
Hahn, M. (2005). Ten Commandments of Intercultural Communication. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from:
For the purpose of communicating about the study of communication, your posts are very easy to read, and easy to locate. You just scroll down the page to see previous posts or locate a specific post through the blog archive. I think your purpose is well stated and it’s met through your posts about each week’s topic.
ReplyDeleteThe design of your blog is very personalized, it seems. This blog combined with your images and your posts make me feel as if I “know” you just a little bit now. It’s not drab or monotonous as some blogs can become. It’s very “happy.”
Your content goes along with the course material (of course) and I think you make some excellent points about the different aspects of communication in your posts.
In my opinion, who you are writing to shines through and you seem to have a good level of knowledge about your audience (mainly your peers and the instructor). However, if someone just “stumbled” upon your blog, I think they would be able to pick up easily on the topics and follow along with what we are discovering and discussing in our coursework.
As a side note: The comment link was hard to find, but I read a lot of blogs and the comment section is usually at the bottom of each post, so even though I didn't see it right away, I knew where to go :)
This is the first blog of three that I will discuss in terms of purpose, design, content, and audience. I like the way this blog has distinct feminine appeal that grabs your attention and puts you in a relaxed mood. The color of this blog really has an effect on the mood and setting a tone. I understand the purpose of this website only because I am in this class. Maybe if there was a tagline that had the purpose of the blog beneath the title it would be much easier to understand the purpose of the writings. The design of this blog is cool in terms of layout but there is a massive amount of pink space that could be utilized for teasers, event updates, or event former writings.
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