How can cross cultural communication be easy?
Before trying to learn everything about all of the different cultures out there, it is important to look at your own communication styles first. How is our own English language perceived in different cultures? Here are some of the main stumbling blocks for foreigners trying to understand what we have to say. Metaphor Traps In English we have the habit of using sport and military metaphors. We even use mixed metaphors and dead metaphors. Here are some examples of the metaphors we use: • We talk about “leveling the playing field” before we “charge straight in” to the “front line of operations”. • He can “step up to the plate and grab the bull by the horns”. “I gather you’ve understood” that “to grasp this concept” is a “touchdown for our team”. These phrases actually mean something. And yet how many people would not follow their meaning? You might say: these metaphors are as subtle as a sledgehammer, everyone would understand them. But this is not the case. Confusion Over Conditionals An
