Canadian party

In the beginning of our life in Canada, once we were invited for a visit by a Quebecois family; they said it would be a dinner in a home environment. A few other guests were invited, too. I must admit that we, Russians, love these kinds of ‘home-dinner-party’. Actually, it is in our culture.

As recommended, we bought a couple of bottle of wine, some chocolate, and I don’t even remember what else – it does not matter.

I should say that the way to their home took about one hour; so, when we showed up at their home I was a bit hungry.

Just to explain how it usually goes on in Russia: when everybody sits at the table, guests begin to eat and drink, and then the conversation starts. Wishing it was!

After hand-shaking and welcome kisses, the hosts gave us a tour of their home, represented to other guests and got us some Champaign. There were also some small pieces of food on the table aside. Not that much, I would say! And, you know what? We started a small talk, which was dragging on and on and on… How long? Maybe it was only my imagination but it seemed about one hour. Ah! On top of that! All that time we had been standing before we were finally asked to sit at the table.

So, I was drunk, exhausted, and starving to death!

Now, I see that the problem was in mismatch between my assumptions and expectations and the local traditions and customs of hospitality. They gave me the warmest welcome, but I could not enjoy it because I was not properly prepared.

It served me as a good example of intercultural communication conflict. After that, whenever I go for a dinner to a Canadian family, I eat in advance.

full of allusions

it is like a conundrum full of allusions to american and sometimes international cultural artifacts like events, movies, heroes and so on.

we are supposed to be larger educated and well informed, in other words -- enculturated -- to fully enjoy all these parodies, to estimate its multilayered structure.

i really love such sophisticated stuff: it motivates me to learn culture.

try to guess what i am talking about!

Epitome of American Humor: ‘Epic’ Daily Show Segment Blasts U.S. For Cutting Off UNESCO Funding

What I love about Americans that they do not take themselves too seriously.

I do not know this guy, but I am really impressed by his ability of making jokes with a dead-pan face!

Enjoy!

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/epic-daily-show-segment-blasts-u-s-for-cutting-off-unesco-funding/

Cross-gender communication

It is hard to imagine society itself without cross-gender communication, which is really important because men and women are still different not only biologically.

Considering this communication as a form of intercultural communication will help us to better understand the ways to develop related skills when speaking across genders.

A quick glance on the history of the modern human society can shed light on the questions why men and women speak differently and why language generally implies different roles for them. Obviously, it is consequences of the agricultural and industrial revolutions, patriarchate dominance, and some other important acting factors like religion, etc.

For a member of society, gender predefines belonging to a family group like wife or husband; therefore, in certain cases, an ascribed societal role can lead to an achieved role. During life, some roles can be changed, but behavior expectations to each role, formed by society norms and mores, generally stay the same.

The first place in life where a child begins to adopt these norms and expectations is the family in which he or she lives. On the other hand, the most important mean of communication is the language the family speaks. Language usage reflects the roles ascribed to men and women, and it is mirrored even in grammatical gender. Diversity of cultural and historical backgrounds has huge impact on forming gender specific aspects of every language.

For example, in Arabic, the question How many children do you have? sounds literally like How many boys do you have? The word ‘girl’ in German (Mädchen) is treated as neuter. In Russian, it is impossible to call some professions like blacksmith, carpenter, etc. as feminine. (In fact, in Russian, everything is possible to say, but it would be really awkward and funny.)

Another interesting phenomenon is the way of speaking that is commonly expected from men and women in a particular society. Not to make anyone blushing by giving examples, but ladies are not supposed to use some expressions and so on.

Moreover, in culturally mixed environments, like that in Canada, the situation at the family and society level can be more complex because of the different norms and behavioural patterns added by immigrants to the whole mosaic.

All in all, to speak effectively, to be understood correctly, to avoid risqué situations when it comes to cross-gender communication, it requires special linguistic practices and knowing the cultural background and context.

pain blanc maison

deuxième essaie

Sales letter: Partnership proposition on Wi-Fi Internet Access Point and VOIP solution for hotels

Buenos dìas Jose!

I know that you deal with IT solutions in Cuba, and so do I in Canada. This is why I believe my value proposition of partnership might be of your interest.

My name is Alex. For five years I have been leading a small family company in Montreal, Canada, that develops and implements an IT solution for hotels – “HotSpot”. Briefly, it is a comprehensive hardware/software solution, which allows hotels to provide their guests with Wi Fi Internet access on all their premises and a cheap VOIP telephony for international calls.

The system is very easy in installation: it requires only one working day for the hardware part (one central Wi-Fi router and one additional extender per each 100 square meters) and one day for the software installation and testing.

This solution is in high demand in Canada; consequently, our business goes very well. In 2011 we sold more than one hundred of new installations and achieved our sales goal of one million CAD. As to Cuba, we have already implemented one “HotSpot” at “Freyer Blau Costa” in Holguin and can use this hotel as a good reference. Given that the hospitality industry in Cuba is one of the most developed, I estimate the local market potential very high; for the first year, the target revenue might be set as much as $200,000.

So, as you can see, the opportunity is really interesting. However, it may be working only in a form of partnership. First of all, due to the Cuban government regulations that restrict the local market from foreign businesses. Also, from the marketing perspective, it would be much more efficient to collaborate with a Cuban partner. So, I need such a service provider, who knows the language, customs, traditions, and cultural norms, and who could build trust and establish strong relationship with the hotel chains’ management by representing “HotSpot”.

I am ready to make initial investments in the marketing activities and guarantee you a technical support including training. We will be signing a partner agreement each year by setting the annual quota together with an aggressive commission plan. Basically, it means that if you exceed your target, you get an agreed percent of commission plus an exponentially growing bonus. More detail about the prices, commission rate, and the product you can find attached.

I am planning to be in Havana in the beginning of this April. So, please let me know before the March 15th if we could meet there to discuss our eventual partnership, of course, if you will find this proposition interesting to you.

I would be really happy, too, if you could come to Montreal to visit the company’s office and my home.

Please feel free to ask me any questions.

With respect,

Alex

Non-verbal communication

The significance of non-verbal communications is really high; certain researchers estimate the meaning of a message transmitted non-verbally up to 90%. However, there is no need to be a scientist to make the same conclusion, especially, when it comes to intercultural communications where we deal with different behavioral patterns.

All the three videos are full of non-verbal patterns that can be divided into the following categories (in fact, there are more than that but just to name a few): touch, eye contact, volume, posture, gestures, paralanguage, proximity. Some of them, like closing the lips with the index finger to call for silence or moisture in eyes, are universal and common for people regardless of nationality, gender, and age. The others are very peculiar and, I believe, specific to particular cultures, like raising the little finger with back of hand.

Two Greek men stay very close to each other: one, amused, with his hands in his pockets, constantly looking at his friend’s eyes; the other obviously persuading his friend with expressive gestures, speaking very fast, a bit rocking and finally even sticking out his tongue!

In the Brazilian adventure we see a timid lad who clears his throat just to be brave in face of a celebrity. But he was not so reserved in the car before, when the laughing girl touched his head: he spoke with raising inflection, surprised and amused. Later, in the room, they shook hands twice in an interesting manner. He lowered his tone when he started speaking Portuguese to the girl next to him, evidently, to clarify the situation with his inadequate English. Another interesting moment was then that girl pointed him with her index finger. I think this gest is not appropriated in other cultures, but I understood very easily what she wanted to say when she ‘touched’ her heart with the hand – to excuse her.

In the Arab movie, on the contrary, we see a much bigger distance between people and more formal way of communication. What I can highlight is that the M.C.’ behavior, in particular, his respectful posture with the angled torso inclined towards the singer and his manner of reading a poem – he did it like a mullah singing his prayers. From my point of view, the guests seem being treated more than just with respect, but as it should be in a high society.

All in all, I reckon that this theme is interesting enough to be learned more because language itself is not sufficient to communicate efficiently in international environments. I understood the context and the main ideas of all these three videos, even though I neither speak Greek, Arab, nor Portuguese.