Week 4 Wall
Communication across cultures is tricky. Do you have an experience of how you successfully or unsuccessfully negotiated a cultural boundary? Did you work out a “middle ground”? How?
Lost in translation.
Photo credit: John M. Unsworth, 2009
tling, 
Connor Munro, and 9 others are discussing.
hartcamp 1:29 pm on September 24, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Two years ago, in the summer of 2011, I traveled with 60 other teens my age to Israel on a structured trip. Thankfully, most people that live there spoke English, to some extent. However, there were some people that we met along our one month visit who spoke very little to no English at all. Often to get over the language barrier, speaking with your hands and using body language was key for communication. More often than not, the people we met who didn’t speak English were lower class street merchants/vendors and all we really needed to do to communicate with them was point to certain signs or objects to show them what it was that we wanted. And not surprisingly, the merchants were used to these types of interactions and it was very obvious that we were tourists so they knew how to accommodate such situations. It’s fascinating what globalization has done to our world in the past few hundred years, and especially in the last couple of decades with the rapid growth of technology. -Campbell Hart
Tina Loo 4:34 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Campbell, This is interesting – but how did you know what to do? i.e. what gestures to use? It seems that a middle ground gets made when there’s a mutual interest in doing so; in this case, buying and selling! 🙂
Vincent Yam 10:34 pm on September 24, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In September 2009 I took part in my high school’s Japan Exchange trip, where I home stayed at the home of a Japanese student. My host, Akiba and his family spoke VERY little English. It did help that as a fan of Japanese Anime and Manga I knew some things about Japanese culture. As mentioned by Campbell, there was a significant language barrier, but I have to say that not only that, there was a cultural customs barrier. There were quite a few customs in Japan i wasn’t aware of. One of them was bathing… I was expected to wash off before I bathed in the tub (which was only for soaking)…. I forgot and didn’t realize my mistake until I left Japan (trundles off whistling innocently)…
Anyhow, Akiba and his family were very friendly and accommodating, we used both hand signs, body language and sometimes drew pictures to communicate. Not to mention, we found a middle ground in playing simple games and he even taught me a few steps of his Kendo.
One thing I have realized, is that in entertainment and art, cultures tend to find a middle ground. Love of Japanese anime and manga is very prevalent among North Americans (UBC has its own anime club) and when communicating with Akiba, we found we had the most fun playing games and talking with each other over them. It seems that entertainment is a significant middle ground between cultures, for who doesn’t like playing games or having fun? Not to mention its an equal place and forum for people of different cultures because the rules of games don’t distinguish between race and culture.
Tina Loo 4:36 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Vincent, You’re on to one of the key ways and places middle grounds get made; namely through entertainment. In your case it was Anime, but it could also be games and just having fun!
squamptonmafia 11:21 am on September 25, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
As a Canadian who has traveled a fair amount around the world, part of the enjoyment of going to other countries and experiencing other cultures is having to negotiate the cultural boundaries. This can commonly come in the form of different customs surrounding food and clothing or language barriers between people . When I was traveling in Africa, one cultural boundary that I noticed was the use of the gratuity or tipping system, which is commonplace in Kenya, Tanzania and Egypt, where I was. Sure, you tip your server in a restaurant after your meal in Canada, but the idea of having to tip for every little thing was foreign to me, and created some awkward moments of cultural clash, especially at the beginning of the trip. For example, a man at the airport in Nairobi grabbed our luggage trolley and started walking to the van with us, and wouldn’t leave until we gave him some money. This would never happen at, say, Pearson International Airport in Toronto and was a bit of surprise. Middle ground was worked out by giving the man only $5, as opposed to the $20 he was demanding. It is interesting to note, when traveling, the little things about different cultures that you probably weren’t notified about before going there.
slali 6:51 pm on September 25, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In my graduating year in high school, my French immersion class went on a humanitarian trip to Peru. We were accompanied by a tour guide whom conversed with our group in French, but who spoke Spanish to the residents of Peru, she was our translator as well. There was a large cultural barrier that divided our group of French students from the natives of Peru, this gap largely being language. We were not able to communicate more than a few simple terms we learnt with the people of Peru without the help of our tour guide. We developed a dependency for communication on our guide, so our middle ground was established through a translator and which made communication successful. We did not need to make much of an effort to negotiate a cultural boundary with the presence of our tour guide because we relied on her to do it for us. It was when we went a day or two without her that we were able to establish this “middle ground” one on one with the Peruvians. With using the little Spanish we knew and with the help of actions and speaking the universal language of body language, we were able to communicate with them. We also established a middle ground when we spent a few days in their villages, living under their routine, helping farm the fields, participating in cultural ceremonies and celebrations. They met our middle group by preparing a few westernized meals for us.
-Suman Lali
Tina Loo 4:39 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
So Suman, the key to a middle ground is having a translator! 🙂 Someone who is expert at negotiating cross cultural boundaries!
Tina Loo 4:37 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Tyler, Good example. I have had the same experience in India. My question to you was why did you give the man anything at all? What made you do that? In other words what made you compromise to local culture?
maxgardiner 10:23 pm on September 25, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
One of the cultural boundaries I had trouble negotiating was in 2007 when my family went to France for Spring Break. There were two cultural boundary myself and my family had to negotiate. The first was the language barrier. I tried as much as I could to use my limited high school French to do things like ordering food or asking where the bathroom was. I was somewhat successful, able to get my order correct at a McDonald’s on the Champs-Elysees. However when in the more touristy areas of Paris when ever I would begin my order in French my horrid accent would be detected and my “Je voudrais” would get a response of “What would you like?” There was no middle ground reached here.
The second boundary was experienced during one our dinners at a proper restaurant in a touristy area in Paris. When the server came near to us we managed to get into a conversations with her in English which she spoke very well. The conversation was curt until we mentioned that we were from Canada (more importantly not America). After that mention the conversation became much more lighthearted and friendly. We discussed many things about Paris and she gave us some good tips about things to see. We reached a middle ground where we were able to politely discuss various things we could do but only at the expense of not being something.
richardj 1:49 pm on September 26, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My most teaching assignment in northern Manitoba turned out to be my most challenging experience to date. Not being able to speak the local Ojibwa-Cree language and not knowing the local cultural practices was formidable undertaking. My first order of classroom management was to rearrange the class seating to a semi circle and let the students ask questions about me. We spent the better part of the first couple days discussing my home Reserve, who my grandparent were, did I hunt?, did I have an Indian wife?, could I fish? etc. At the end of the first week, the class and I learned a lot about each other and the language challenges were would encounter over the next 8 months. In order to further build upon our common ground, we decided to enlisted the assistance of local Elders and family members who could assist in the translation of lessons. During some of the student presentations, they were encouraged to present in there local language, an Elder would translate for me. I did come to learn and appreciate that some of our best class discussions revolved around food, a very distinct northern custom. To enhance the learning environment, a lot of my lectures and discussions took place in the kitchen/dining room area. I have come to realize most boundaries can be overcome if you develop common goals and make a genuine effort to make it happen.
Tina Loo 4:42 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Richard, I think food is the perfect thing to create a middle ground – or more precisely the sharing of food!
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Tina Loo 4:41 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Max, maybe when the French servers answered you in English they thought they were being polite by accommodating themselves to your language? And as to your other story, I wonder if what we can conclude is that the possibility of reaching some sort of mutual understanding is shaped by our attitudes towards the group we thing we’re accommodating ourselves to?
bedard 1:24 pm on September 26, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Back in the summer of 2003 I moved from the small town village of Lax Kw’alaams, located just off the coast of Prince Rupert to the big city of Vancouver. It was a completely new experience for me, as I have never really lived a city life before, I had only travelled to the city for vacations. Being dropped into a fourth grade classroom in an elementary school out in Surrey, was the first time I had really come faced with so much multi-culturalism other than my own. Growing up in such a small village I was always surrounded by other First Nations children and family. Moving to the big city was the first time I had become a minority among other races and nationalities, and I felt so alienated being so different then everyone else. I guess you could say I was unsuccessful at communicating because I became so shy and quiet, I would keep to myself in the beginning. After a few weeks of attending my new school, I was the only First Nation student in my class and I thought I had no one to relate to because I thought everyone was so different from me. As I became more comfortable I started to branch out and realize that culturally I was so different from everybody else, I sounded different then everybody else, but they were just like me. I felt a lot more comfortable around everyone and I was proud to share about my culture, who I was and where I came from, as well I was fascinated to learn more about them.
Owen Bedard
Tina Loo 4:45 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Owen, thanks for sharing the story: I think you’ve hit on a key aspect of creating a middle ground, which is overcoming one’s fear in doing so, in embracing the strange and unknown. It’s hard – and can you imagine how hard it might have been for the French and British or for the Indigenous nations who met in the 17th century?
eself 11:05 am on September 27, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In the summer of 2006, I went toGermany for a soccer tour during the Fifa World Cup, which was being held in Germany that summer. While we were traveling we billeted with families while we stayed in the different cities throughout the trip. Coming into a strangers home with the intention of spending our nights with these families, so one cultural boundary was language, but by being integrated into their family lives, sitting down to dinner and, with some difficulty, having a conversation with those that spoke english well enough. The boundary of language was a constant battle for me, mainly because I would have a teammate with me who would start a conversation, so I would rarely have to communicate myself with the families or other fans. I believe that our middle ground in most cities was being fans of soccer and being able to train with and play against them in games. This middle ground was not only effective in situations with families, but also at the big screenings of the Fifa World Cup Games which we attended around Germany whenever possible. It is sad to confess, but even after I came home, and received a letter from one of the families who billeted us, I did not pluck up the courage to write them back.
-Elizabeth Self
Tina Loo 4:46 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Elizabeth, you can still write back! It would be a great (and welcome) surprise to them. I think you’ve hit on two key aspects of creating a middle ground; first that we have to overcome our fear to do so (both sides do) and second that sport or play is something that can bring people together.
jamesrm 11:39 am on September 27, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In the summer of 2012, my family and my then girlfriend travelled to Portugal for two weeks. We decided to take the less touristy route and rent a house in a small town on the West coast of Portugal, opposed to the more common destinations in the East and the South. When we ventured into the larger cities in Portugal, the English language was abundant; menus were multilingual and most people spoke enough English to communicate with us, as our Portuguese was non-existent. However, in the small town of Mucifal, English was not abundant and we had to communicate mostly by pointing and saying the name of the products we wanted. My girlfriend and I were sent down to get “an assortment of seafood” for the night’s dinner, so we wandered down to the fish market, identifiable by the large fish hanging from the awning. The initial barrier we ran into was that the shopkeeper did not speak a single word of English. Now this was not normally a problem, but we were staring at a large ice bucket full of unidentifiable, unlabelled fish and seafood with a jovial Portuguese women smiling at us inquisitively. We managed to overcome the language barrier using a mixture of our spotty high school French, my girlfriend’s grade 9 Spanish and obscure gesticulations to communicate which fish we wanted. We walked back to our house with a the most delicious tasting fish I’ve ever eaten (and still have no idea what it was), some sardines (which apparently don’t have to be canned and disgusting) and some delicious shrimp. I’m definitely glad we had the chance to live the typical Portuguese lifestyle, even if it had it’s difficulties, instead of staying in a posh hotel where we could speak English and be pampered the whole time.
Tina Loo 4:48 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Great story!!! (and Portuguese is a very difficult language).
Connor Munro 12:15 pm on September 27, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I have travelled outside of Canada many times mainly to the USA but also parts of the Caribbean. While in many of these places I did not really come across a cultural boundary that needed to be negotiated except for the first time I went to Mexico. I have gone mainly gone to places in the US but about 7 years ago I went to Puerta Vallarta Mexico. The first time my parents took my brother and I shopping we had to learn something completely new to us and that was bartering. While in Canada and the US a lot of places have set prices and the same is could be said about some places in Mexico. However, many of the shopping locations in Mexico required us to barter with the shop owners( and their limited english made it harder at times). We were successful in getting what we thought was a good deal at times and others we were unsuccessful and were completely ripped off(especially the first couple times). In attempting to negotiate with the shopkeepers we almost always tried to work out a middle ground with them by getting a price that both of us were okay with. Getting to a middle ground with them was often difficult and could be frustrating but after some unsuccessful attempts we were starting to become more successful and were able to start reach a middle ground more often than not. Now with that experience any time I go to a location that requires bartering (weather in Canada or anywhere else) I am able to better attempt and reach a middle ground with shopkeepers.
Tina Loo 4:48 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Bartering is a very good example of cultural negotiation!
tling 3:48 pm on September 27, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Negotiating and communicating across cultural boundaries can be a fragile and complicated matter. It is important to understand each culture’s conventions in order to properly acknowledge each group.
One experience that I had trouble negotiating past a cultural boundary was when I helped to put together a team project. My partner was a new immigrant to Canada from Russia. Throughout the time we were putting together the project, there were a lot of misunderstandings because of the language barrier. Even though the new immigrant could write English almost without errors, the person’s speaking skills was not completely smooth. For the most part, I could understand what the other person was saying, but every so often there would a part of the sentence that would not quite make sense. Over the few months that I spent with the new immigrant, I learned much about Russian culture and even learned some new words. We ended up finding a “middle ground” as we learned more about each other. For example, we both shared a love for different food cuisines, so what we did was whenever we had a meeting, we made sure it was at a new restaurant.
In the end, we came to realize that although we came from different places, we were able to appreciate the other person’s culture and come together to come our team project to the best of our abilities. I learned that as long as people have common goals, cultural boundaries can be overcome, but with effort.
Tina Loo 4:49 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Food and sharing it is the perfect way to create a middle ground.
Tina Loo 4:51 pm on September 28, 2013 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Some general comments on Week 4 :
Many people in the class brought up the fact that UBC is a very multicultural campus in a culturally diverse city, so that learning how to accommodate oneself to differences is something we have to do all the time. There were some great examples of how people react to differences – everything ranging from reacting with unease, frustration, and sometimes with aggression and bullying to making an effort to learn and adapt, whether through trying new foods, learning new words, figuring out new customs, or sharing (whether it be food or a love of football).
Your stories led me to think that the key to making a middle ground is a mutual interest and commitment in doing so. The French and Indigenous nations that met at Montreal really wanted the same thing – trade and above all, peace – to the extent they were willing to be hostages in the “enemy’s” camp. Most of us don’t engaged in treaty negotiations, but we do have to find a way to get along in the midst of different cultures, and doing so successfully seems to be premised on an ability to get beyond our fears and to be open to new experiences, to let go, to a certain extent, of some of the ways we do things. This begins by recognizing that the way we do things, the things we think are “normal” aren’t necessarily seen that way by everyone!