Intercultural Communication

Human interaction used to take place in a local scope, but with the advent of most of the 20th and 21st century technology, our scope has become global. We travel, we have conversations, we see movies, we do business with people that come from a different culture and have a different background. And exactly that is the point I am trying to get at. Within local horizons we do not have to prepare to communicate.. It is almost natural to us to express what we think and how we feel through words. Yet, what may seem natural or normal to us, is not necessarily for someone else from a different culture. So intercultural communication has become more relevant than ever, especially to us who live in New York City –a melting pot of cultures- and attend NYU – a university with a very diverse student body-. There are a list of obstacles that would be useful to learn about to better prepare for intercultural interactions.
The first obstacle that we may encounter is at the basic level of words. When communicating in a language other than our native language we may literally get lost in translation. According to David Victor, in his studies of Cross-cultural communication, there are two types of translation errors: gross translation errors and mistranslations of subtle distinctions. Gross translation errors occur when we flat out use an incorrect word. Mistranslations of subtle distinctions occur when a word is used but its meaning, even though closely related to the intended one, is not completely accurate. These are the most detectable errors because at the moment that an incorrect word is used by the non-native speaker, the native speaker can indicate the interruption of the message. After we have the words down, we have to regard how many words we choose to communicate.
The second obstacle that we may encounter is at the level of context. The language of some cultures is structured in a way that there should be no space for open interpretation. These cultures are referred to as low-context. They pay closer attention to the word choice rather than to intended meaning. Some low context cultures are United States, England, and Western European countries. On the other hand, there are cultures where the context is more important than the actual words that are said. High- context cultures, more than valuing what is said, they value how things are said. Some high context cultures are China, Japan, Mexico, and Greece. It is important to keep in mind the context, because it also affects our approach to any given message.
The third obstacle that we may encounter is at the level of directness. According to Sarah Trenholm in her book Thinking Through Communication, closely related to context dependence is Verbal directness. Low-context cultures appreciate directness. They go straight to the point. High context cultures on the other hand, tend to hint and beat around the bush. Thinking about how to approach a message leads us to think how to address the rank of the person who we are talking to.
The fourth kind of obstacle that we may encounter is at the level of formality. How we address authority varies from culture to culture. Cultures with distinct power hierarchies tend to be more formal. They have protocol to address to authority figures and show respect. Chinese and Spanish for example, as languages, they contain words to distinguish different levels of authority. English on the other hand, only has the pronoun you, which is reflected on the informal and value of equality that the American society has. After we manage how to speak with our words, we have to think about how we speak with our body.
The fifth kind of obstacle that we may encounter is at the level of non-verbal behavior. Nonverbal behavior includes dress, kinesics, oculesics, haptics, proxemics and paralangue. These are fancy terms for dress, body language, eye contact, touching behavior, body space, and entonation. How much we express ourselves affect our intercultural communication, so we must understand how different cultures perceive non-verbal expressions. In the one hand, expressive cultures display their emotions highly. They hug or cry without any social concerns. This is mostly predominant in latin cultures. On the other hand, non-expressive cultures try to neutralize their emotions. They value evenness. This is mostly predominant in the southeast asian cultures. The American and European cultures are somewhere in the middle. It is important to keep in mind the non-verbal preferences of the person we are speaking with to keep ourselves from unintentional offenses; like President Bush who went to Australia and made the peace sign when the V holds a sexual meaning.
As I said earlier, we do not have to go very far to be exposed to a different culture. In New York, the locality has very much become global. When interacting with a person from a different background try to think about what I said today. Try to understand how you and the person who you are talking to, respond to a different language, speak contextually, speak directly or indirectly, are comfortable or not with with expressiveness and body language, and finally act formally in the interaction. Understanding the importance of intercultural communication can save you from an offense in a casual conversation, from an offense that could ruin an international business deal. The world is at our hands, we must treat it carefully.