The Effectiveness of Communication in Foreign Countries

Communication is an ongoing complex process that brings all different types of people together. Communication creates and rebuilds relationships which can last a lifetime. Even though, communication could create strong bonds it could also destroy those bonds. When it comes to communicating, everyone has their flaws as well as me. One of my flaws, when it comes to communicating, is having the courage to speak my mind within important and necessary conversations. When it comes to communicating, I tend to hold my tongue instead of expressing how I truly feel. Even though I know that not all conversations need your opinion or advice, there’s still those conversations that do. There are certain reasons that I have decided to keep my thoughts and feelings to myself while having conversations with others: fear that the way others perception of me would change negatively, fear of not knowing how they will respond or accept and the fear of leaving my stuff vulnerable in front of someone that could possibly hurt me mentally and emotionally. I have yet to figure out what should be said at the appropriate time, so I rather just keep my thoughts and comments to myself because I cannot do any harm if I’m quiet. My interaction with people has labeled me as someone that continues to “Sugar-Coat” because of the reasons I listed above. Nevertheless, I had multiple conversations with family, friends and acquaintances about how difficult it has been to have conversations with me because it

The influence on international progression and communication can be seen as a positive and powerful aspect by culture imperial structures. Although, the notion of globalisation has overtaken the imperial structure as a main concept, therefore, underlining the studies and ideas that take hold in international communication.

Communication within one cultural group sharing traditions and national or regional identity is often effortless. The social and cultural meanings between the same cultures in regard to communication are understood the way they are intended. When discourse happens within members of the same social groups; they will communicate, talk, discuss in similar places that all members of that culture attend or visit like bars, schools, shopping malls, community meetings, party events, the office, etc. The meaning arrived at or the knowledge and accepted truth toward an issue is more or less the consensus of a

Everyone has the ability to speak. There are all different ways to communicate whether someone is texting, deaf (sign language), or actually speaking. According to ‘a world of communication’, “We are normal people. We can do everything, but sometimes just in a different way.” People are noticed, no matter the communication stages.

Alberts, Martin and Nakayama (2011) describe communication as “ a transactional process in which people generate meaning through the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages in in specific contexts, influenced by individual and societal forces and embedded in culture.”(p.7) They then go on to state that intercultural communication “occurs in interactions between people who are culturally different.”(p.122) Cultural differences thus affect many interactions, with the communication process being one.

Communication is one of the most important and valuable skills we have developed as human beings. It is the basis for how we connect with each other globally and shape the people we are today. Without effective communication, we would not be able to build productive relationships, express our cultural values, or most importantly, voice our thoughts. As we grow, we learn and develop our unique form of communication. Whether we are strong public speakers or prefer an interpersonal approach, it is important to find what type of communication is best suited for us, so we can appropriately and effectively use communication to our advantage. There are several different aspects that make us effective communicators, and knowing our strengths and weaknesses in theses categories will give us a comparative advantage on how to properly communicate on an interpersonal level. In this paper, I will discover the type of communicator I am, what I am good at, and what I can work on, to become an excellent interpersonal communicator.

Living around other people is not unexplored territory and many can argue that coexisting is just human nature in today’s society. In a desperate need to survive, humans from ancient times thrived by forming societies in which people worked with one another’s mastery skills to assist those in their environment. Existing in these communities today would be nearly impossible if it was not for the milestones reached by the natives of the land in which people live. However, if the world’s population lived as in ancient Roman times, for example, adaptation to the ever-changing world would simply be taboo. Both domestically and globally, individuals no longer communicate with only like-individuals. By globalizing,

The shrinking borders of the international business landscape demand keen interpretation of the unique cultural expectations of organizational partners. Guffey & Loewy (2015) note that there are five distinct dimensions of cultural difference that inhibit effective intercultural communication. Barron (2013) states that it is imperative for North American organizations in particular to actively increase the cultural awareness of employees conducting international business. International negotiators can improve an organization’s rate of success through thoroughly understanding several important cultural differences. First, businesspeople should be aware of the communication idiosyncrasies of high and low-context cultures (Guffey & Loewy, 2015). Secondly, American workers should understand the varied importance of time orientation in foreign organizations (Keating, 2014). Finally, international negotiations will proceed more smoothly if cultural power distances are respected (Rao, 2013).

The media plays a very important role in today’s society. The media keeps the society informed of daily happenings, educates people, enhances democracy, etc. In the African context, media has played a vital role in the creation of democracy. According to an article by Joseph Matumaini, the African media took on a new configuration in the 1990s due to the increased demand for multi-party democracy (1). This time was also marked by increased cry for privatization of the media. In South Africa, media was perceived as a tool to fight apartheid evils in the efforts to creating a democratic nation. However, this has proven difficult since the 1994 elections. The South African government among other African countries has been in a vibrant war with the national media over freedom of expression, with President Jacob Zuma using different tactics to protect his malpractices. In line with this, this paper analyzes the national communication structure and media of South Africa from the apartheid error to present.

In society today, people have friends that belong to numerous diverse cultural groups. When it comes to meeting new people from unique cultural groups, the form of communication are all different. Those that do not use the correct form of communication when encountering new people from different ethnicity, it can lead to misunderstanding and tremendous conflicts. For instance, I am Vietnamese and in our culture, the way people communicate determines their characteristics, personalities, and how educated they are. This is extremely important in my culture since it reveals how we treat adults and if we admire them or not. On the other hand, my friend Yary, who is Cambodian, her way of communicating defines how respectful one is, based on their tone. The Cambodian and the Vietnamese’s lifestyle tends to have multiple similarities, but also have a few differences about certain topics. When it comes to communicating, the situational context, physical appearance, and self presentation all plays a different role in every heritage. To learn extend my knowledge about different cultures and their way of communicating, I interviewed my friend Yary, to compare and contrast our way of communicating through our culture.

"We didn 't all come over on the same ship, but we 're all in the same boat."- Bernard Baruch

During the first day of The International Communications course, Professor Harsin proposed the question: “How would you define International Communication?” Heads swayed and hesitant hands began to rise in attempts to tackle the question. After delving into the nooks and crannies of this question throughout the course, another question arises today: What evidence can we condense to create a blueprint for how communication has been infiltrating continents globally? It can be reiterated that given the diversification of political, socio-economic context, cultural issues have apparently been treated as the questionable point of global debate. It seems quite evident that other aspects of globalization or of localization are determined by the

Have you seen the latest Hollywood movie "War of the worlds"? Have you visited the Disneyland that is newly opened in Hong Kong? As the world has become smaller day-by-day, the cross-cultural communications are taking place more frequently. However, in spite of the amusements, have you ever considered the gains and loses in this communication?

One aspect the profoundly informed my daily life and impacted on my life as a whole is the Christian life. At home I used to attend the Sunday service at church without fail. That greatly shaped my view of the world and the moral standards and even interaction with other. It became more like a culture that I walked in and lived in my daily life. Currently, I am not able to continue with the regular attending of the church services due to work that keeps me engaged, I have to do it for a living here. However, this has not drained all the impact religion had on me. It shaped the communication pattern that I used. I used different language pattern and word choice for talking to the varied audience, for instance predominantly polite language and official words while talking to elders and casual language while talking to peer.

Bearing that we all come from varying cultures and cultural backgrounds do dictate a lot the type of reactions we receive from the pubic as well as the way we react to other people around us, there is need to use our communication tools as an access tool to the people of the different culture. Being a Chinese who has lived in the USA for 4 years, I have come to realize that the use of communication accommodation has been one of the best tools to overcome the barriers that can be between me and the majority of the cultures around me.