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welcome to business english pod a great way to improve your english skills on the go.today,more than ever,business success requires intercultural awareness and effective cross cultural communication skills.
working ,meeting ,dealing ,entertaining, negotiating and corresponding with colleagues or clients from different cultures can be full of obstacles.one wrong move or basic disagreeing could ruin or delay months of work.
understanding and appreciating intercultural differences promotes clearer communication breaks down barriers,builds trust.strengthens relationships and opens business opportunities.
it is necessary to understand the importance of cultural differences in international business communication.international business people often learn foreign languages,so can talk to colleagues from around the world.
language,of course,is very important,but it is only half the problem.there are hidden rules for doing business with people of other cultures,as it can be very easy to accept your foreign colleagues.
an American would not greet a european businessman by,say,hi great to meet you,because in Europe businessmen talk to each other in a more formal way.
in the west business,cards are only looked up quickly while in hong kong and China they are highly regarded.they are looked at closely and then left on the table during business meetings.
in Britain,most business presentations would include a joke in many other countries. this would be unheard of.
will you cause offence if you refuse to eat something your counterpart May be watching your reaction when he offers you some local delicacy?small talk is also very important in some parts of the world.
think about the weather or the wine come before business in other places,people get down to business almost immediately.
as each country deals with problems in a different way,it is important to understand how each country sees certain things.people often find differences hard to accept.
therefore,they feel uneasy if they do not know how to act in a different culture.it is,however,dangerous to stereotype what other cultures alike.
such narrow views can lead you to make predictions about what will happen in your business dealings if your views are too narrow,you will be surprised if people behave differently from the way you thought they would behave.
our ideas then have to be flexible and come from what see.we should also recognise that people's behaviour and personality comes from their national,vaginal and their own background,as well as their company culture.
interesting information in that article.now let's take a look at some of the new phrases and words that the article uses.the first phrase is hidden rules. there are hidden rules for doing business.what is that mean?
well,I think in any culture there are going to be certain expectations and certain ways of acting that people in other cultures might not necessarily expect to agree with.
and sometimes those expectations are hard to learn unless you have some experience with a particular culture. so it's easy to get yourself into trouble if you break one of these rules that you May not be familiar with.
they're called hidden rules. I think because they're unseen or they're not written down or clear,but they're once you learn the things you do or don't do.
and they could be pretty important the next phrase is in the west. we hear that all the time,what is the west?
well,countries that were originally considered the west were probably America and england,but cultures influenced by european culture.
which now are all over the world right it's not so much a geographic description as it is a cultural description on western countries.in a place like Australia or New Zealand very far east as,we would call it now that's all.
next phrase is unheard of.how do we use unheard of?
well,when we say something is UN heard of,it doesn't usually mean that no one has ever heard of this sort of thing happening. it means that something is unfamiliar or maybe not acceptable.
yeah,I think unheard of we used that to say things that should not be done,right?the next word is counterpart in the article,they say your counterpart May be watching your reaction,but what is a counterpart?
well,I think of a colleague who works in another agency or another country who occupies the same position,but you might work with them.
I think working with this other person called a counterpart is the key. it's the person and other organization that you are supposed to work with.
on some projects,so for example,in a business meeting,if you are dealing with something in another company,the person who is negotiating for the other company is your counterpart in that meeting.now we come to another now delicacy.
delicacy is something that in a particular culture is considered,especially good to eat,and this can be something that gets you in trouble in some context because you.
maybe in certain cultures,what's considered a delicacy might not be considered so appealing in other cultures sure,but a delicacy to me reminds.
is something that's very special,and you should be treated with respect. it's a very special food,right?now i come to a phrase you hear all the time and it is get down to business.well,what does getting down to business mean?
well,to me,it's time to start working. let's get started so in a business meeting,for example,you might begin by making some small talk about the weather or something else that's not directly connected to your negotiations.
when somebody says let's get down to business,it means it's time to start actually negotiating or the central business at hand exactly okay.so let's talk about this word uneasy. what is this name?
uncomfortable not relaxed,very nervous,so you might feel uneasy if something is happening that you're not used to,yes,if something strange is happening,i don't understand I feel uneasy.
so if you're in a business negotiation or some other kind of social situation with a person from another culture,you might end up feeling uneasy about some aspects of your interaction with that person.
maybe if you don't know the rules,they didn't know yes,they hidden rules,OK? how about this verb to stereotype? it's dangerous to stereotype that other cultures.
a like,what does this mean? well,to stereotype a culture or a group of people means to assume that everybody in that group or in that culture is going to behave in a certain way.
um,maybe some of the time those stereotypes can be true,you can use stereotype as announced as well as a verb. by the way,but you can get yourself into a lot of trouble if you assume that a stereotype is always going to be true of every individual.
especially when you're dealing with somebody from a different culture,particularly in a business meeting.
so stereotype might be the way you think about a culture right my ideas you have a general idea that might not apply to every individual. okay?
now the next one was narrow,can you tell us a bit about this term? narrow,narrow,this adjective means limited.so in this particular usage,it means that some people might have some limited ideas about how cultures are.
uh,so that's where it was described as a narrow view,a narrow view is sometimes stereotypes. uh make for narrow views because it's only one idea about a culture where people OK,so it doesn't allow for difference.right,okay?
and now prediction.can you tell us a little bit about predictions? well,a prediction is somebody's expectation of what's going to happen in the future.
uh,for example,in a business meeting you might want to make a prediction about how sales are going to go for a particular product or how a business relationship is going to develop.
many times there are guesses,but you hope that your guesses are backed up by real information.对。
I guess the true meaning of flexible is something that can bend. it's not rigid or straight,so if you're thinking in a flexible way,you can change your ideas.
your views and that is quite helpful when you're going to new places or meeting,new people also plans plans can be flexible.
we can move appointments around and travel schedules when we are able to do that. we are flexible and flexible with our schedule so flexibility is something that might be especially important if you're conducting a business negotiation with somebody from a different culture you need to be able.
to expect the or be open to a lot of possibilities need to be able to change to adjust to what you might find out about those other cultures. there's never just one way to do things.right?
OK,we've talked about some things that might be useful in dealing with people from another culture,either in a business setting or maybe in some other context.be sure to review the vocabulary.
and will be back soon with another podcast.