English has become the dominant global language, and native English speakers tend to take it for granted and they expect people in other countries to speak to them in English. And it’s not hard to find people who speak some English in any country nowadays. But we should avoid the mistake of assuming that the local people who seem to speak descent English are on par with us in their communication styles and cultural assumptions. These are vastly different, and we should take note of it.
Having worked with and experienced people of a few dozen nationalities, it strikes me again and again how un-North American (and non-western) many of these folks are in terms of their style of working and communicating. For example, many Americans prefer to be direct and to the point when they speak, but most Asians would rather speak indirectly and go around the points to make the point.
It’s also crucial that you gear your vocabulary, sentence structure, and expressions toward more simple, textbook, CNN style standard English rather than using idioms and expressions that are more culturally influenced. Here are some more tips on how to communicate with non-native speakers of English:
1. Break ice first.
Many non-western folks may find you to be rude if you just get to the point right away. It will all depend on the context, of course, but by rule, try to take some time to exchange greetings and pleasant words before talking about what you really wanted to talk about.
2. Use simple vocabulary and expressions.
Of course, you may run into people who are fluent in just about any country, but in general, you should keep your words and expressions as simple as possible depending on their level.
3. Ask questions to see if they’ve understood you.
They are more likely to say “yes” when you ask them if they’ve understood you even if they didn’t. So be creative without offending them for their lack of understanding. Try to rephrase rather than just repeat the same things over.
4. Try to read people, not just their words.
This one is more of a people and cultural skill than a language skill, I know. But it’s one that interculturalists need to keep growing in. I personally struggle with this one since I prefer to take words at their face value. But in many shame-based cultures, this is a must.
5. Check your ethnocentric assumptions.
A lot of our values, assumptions, and judgment about people are based on our cultural, ethnic, racial, and social conditioning. (Read my article about this issue.) We just cannot escape these. It would be naive to think you will ever grow out of this. You can’t. But we can recognize it, admit it, be open about it, apologize if need to, and go from there.
