Month: June 2006

Crosscultural (mis)communication

By Simon

I’m currently reading some very interesting information about language, culture and particularly crosscultural communication. The ability to speak a foreign language fluenty doesn’t necessarily make for smooth and trouble-free communication with native speakers of that language. There are many differences in the way people use language, such as in volume, intonation, pitch and tone, and also in the topics they discuss, the way they take turns in a conversation and whether they express their opinions directly or indirectly. These differences may also occur among speakers of the same language.

Here are a few examples of potential crosscultural misunderstandings:

When you first meet someone in Germany it’s common and appropriate to discuss such topics as politics and religion, however in the UK and USA doing so might be perceived as intrusive and rude.

Among Chinese communities, it’s normal to discuss financial matters, even with people you’ve just met, though this would isn’t necessarily a welcome topic elsewhere.

The British and Americans generally take it turns to speak during a conversation, however Germans may start speaking while others are speaking in order to demonstrate their interest and enthusiasm.

In Japan it’s common to say “hai!” or make other appropriate noises while someone else is speaking to show that you’re listening. If you’re not used to this, it sounds like the listener is trying to hurry the speaker up so that they can have you say.

When an American says to you with “Hi, how are you”, he or she is not usually asking about your health – it’s just a greeting. This is one that often catches me out.

    Have you experienced any crosscultural communication difficulties recently?

Ar ais arís anois (back again now)

By Simon

Tháinig mé ar ais chuig Brighton areir i ndhiaidh turas fada go maith – d’fhág mé Gleann Cholm Cille ag a haon déag ar maidin agus chuaigh mé ar a bus go Baile Dún na nGall, cá bhualadh mé le ceann de na scoláire a bhí ar an cúrsa in Oideas Gael, agus rinne mé comhrá léi as Gaeilge agus Béarla ar an bus go Baile Átha Cliatha.

I got back to Brighton last night after quite a long journey – I left Glencolmcille at eleven in the morning and went by bus to Donegal City, where I bumped into one of the other students who was on the course at Oideas Gael and I chatted to her in Irish and English on the bus to Dublin.

Nuair a tháinig mé chuig Gleann Cholm Cille Dé Sathairn seo caite, d’inis daoine liom go raibh féile ann an deireadh seachtaine sin, agus an tráthóna sin chuaigh mé chuig seisiún ar fheabhas in ostán Gleann Cholm Cille le ceoltóirí as Gleann, Oileán Mhanann agus Oileán Leodhais. Bhí cailín ann ag canadh as Manainnis, agus amhránaí eile ag canadh as Gaeilge na hAlban freisin. An lá dar gcionn, bhí cór as Leodhais agus cór áitiúl ag canadh Salm as Gaeilge na hÉireann agus Gaeilge na hAlban in Oideas Gael. Bhí fuaim an cór as Leodhais an chumhachtach agus corraitheach.

When I arrived in Glencolmcille last Saturday, I was told that there was a festival that weekend, and that evening I went to an excellent session at the Hotel Glencolmcille with musicians from the Glen, the Isle of Man and Lewis. There were a lass there who sang in Manx and other people singing in Scottish Gaelic. The next day, a local group and a group from Lewis sang some psalms in Irish and Scottish Gaelic at Oideas Gael.

The group from Lewis sang in very unusual way – they took it in turns to lead the singing, and the others improvised each line. It’s a unique style of singing and the sound they made was very powerful, moving and almost unearthly. There were only ten or them in the group, so the sound of a whole church full of people singing in this way must be incredible.

Bhain mé an sult as an fuílleach an seachtain. Níl ach seachtdeig daoine bhí ann ag foghlaim Gaeilge, triúr i rang a haon, beirt i rang a dó agus dháréag i rang a trí. Bhí go leor daoine ann i mbliana a bhí ann anuraidh, agus bhí sé deas iad a fheiceáil. Ar dtús, bhí ár múinteoir, Gráinne as Béal Feirste, giota beag moillitheach, ach i ndhiaidh tamallín bhí sí ag teacht i gcleachtadh ar chúrsai.

The rest of the week was very enjoyable. There was only seventeen of us studying Irish, three in level one, two in level two and twelve, including myself, in level three. Quite a few were there last year and it was nice to see them again. Our teacher, Gráinne from Belfast, was a bit hesitant at first, but soon got into the swing of things.

This year I stayed in a house in Cashel, over the road from one of the pubs and close to the shops. Two other students were staying there – a retired teacher from Austria and a lad from Roscommon who plays a mean flute. Our host fed us well and made us feel very welcome.

Most nights, after the activities at Oideas Gael, most of us ended up in Biddys, one of the local pubs. There were some good sessions, though not every night. We also watched quite a few football matches.

I learnt a lot during me stay in Gleann Cholm Cille and am now able to understand more Irish, and to speak it with more confidence and fluency. I’ll definitely be going back to Oideas Gael in the not too distant future.

Galway (again)

By Simon

This morning I returned to Galway after three enjoyable and relaxing days on Inis Mór. While I was there I didn’t have internet access, so it’s taken me a while to delete all the spam – both emails and comments – that’ve been flooding in. Of the 220 messages in my email inbox, only about 30 or so are genuine messages – this is a fairly typical ratio.

On previous holidays I’ve avoided computers altogether – I normally spend all day in front of one, so it’s nice to have a complete break from them. The disadvantage of doing this is that there are usually thousands of messages to sift through when I return home.

Anyway, back to my Inis Mór adventures. On the bus to the ferry, I got chatting with a bloke from Spain and a girl from Canada. They were sitting next to me and were babbling away in Spanish. I eavesdropped on their conversation, was able to understand most of it, and jumped in at a suitable moment. My Spanish grammar and vocabulary still need a lot of work, but I can at least conserve in the language, which is encouraging. Sometimes when I’m studying a language, I wonder if I’ll ever get to the stage when I can converse freely and fluently in it. When I have opportunities to use what I’ve learnt, I’m often pleasantly surprised by how much I can say and understand. For me, this makes all the effort worthwhile.

The ferry ride over to Inis Mór was uneventful – apart from a all too brief sighting of dolphins on the starboard bow, and a cameo appearance by a seal in the harbour at Rossaveal when we were just about to set sail. Quite a few jellyfish were also visible in the amazingly clear waters.

On arrival in Kilronan (Cill Rónáin), the principal settlement on Inis Mór, I wandered off in search of my B&B. After going in completely the wrong direction, several times, I eventually found it. It was quite a way from Kilronan up a substantial hill, but well worth the effort – the views along the way and from the B&B were spectacular, and the B&B itself wasn’t bad either.

I spent my time on Inis Mór exploring the island on a hired bike. I visited most of the sights, inculding the most impressive Dun Aonghasa, an ancient cliff-top fortress. My favorite place was the beach at Portmurvey – white sand, clear blue/green sea and hardly any people. Actually, one afternoon a large party of school kids showed up on the beach. I overheard their teachers saying that they were there to learn Irish. Some of them were talking amongst themselves in Irish quite naturally, others, the majority in fact, had to be reminded regularly to speak Irish rather than English.

One afternoon while sitting on a wall eating a banana outside the supermarket, I got talking to a couple of itinerant accordinists, one from Cork and one from Mayo. They were on the island in the hope of playing in one or more of the local pubs. Later that day I saw them playing outside a pub with some other guys and went to listen. At some point I mentioned that I play the tin whistle, and they insisted that I give them a few tunes. This I did, and they seemed fairly impressed.

Few of the people I met on Inis Mór were Irish speakers so I didn’t get to practise my Irish as much as I’d hoped. Never mind, I’m off to Glencolmcille tomorrow for a week of Irish language studies, and I know there’ll be plenty of people there to speak Irish with.

Time for lunch now.

Gaillimh (Galway)

By Simon

I’ve just arrived in Galway and will be saying here one night before sailing off to Inishmor (Inis mór) tomorrow. I’ll probably spend this afternoon just relaxing and doing a bit of juggling in Eyre Square.

The weather has been glorious so far – warm or hot and sunny every day. Quite a contrast to this time last year, when it was cool and damp most of the time. But then I was in Glencolmcille for the whole of the holiday.

Lachain bui (Yellow ducks)

By Simon

Plastic yellow ducks have colonised the River Liffey and people have been spotted risking life and limb to retrive a few of them. Well I did see one lad jumb into to river to colllect a few of the ducks, and others have been climbing down the ladders attached to the side of the river.

I had a look round Trinity College today and saw the Books of Kells – most impressive – there were also a number of other beautiful illuminated manuscripts on display, including the Book of Darrow and an Armenian bible. Then I had a stroll through the Long Room, a library that houses some of the oldest and most valuable books in the college. One interesting fact about the Long Room, which looks like something from the world of Harry Potter, is that the books are arranged according to size, with the largest books on the bottom shelves, and smaller books on the upper shelves. So to find a book, you have to know how big it is.

In the afternoon, I had a look round the Charles Beatty library, an amazing collection of books, manuscripts, paintings, prints, and many other things. I would thoroughly recommend it to any linguaphiles, graphophiles and indeed bibliophiles. There were even some explanations of the exhibits in Irish.

I’m off to Galway / Gaillimh tomorrow.

Baile Átha Clitha / Dublin

By Simon

Well I’ve arrived in Dublin and am staying in a hostel in Lower Gardiner Street – it’s just outside the city centre so is handy for everywhere. Have just been for a wander around the city centre and St Stephen’s Green Park. There was even Japanese lad playing the harp on Grafton Street.

Have yet to hear anybody speaking Irish, but have heard Japanese, Cantonese, German and quite a few other languages.

The hostel provides free internet access, but there’s only one computer and many people are waiting to use so I’d better finish now.

Laethanta saoire

By Simon

Tá mé ag dul go hÉirinn ar laethanta saoire amárach. Caithidh mé cupla lá i mBaile Átha Clitha, Gaillimh agus Inis Mór, agus ansin beidh mé a foghlaim níos mó Gaeilge i nGleann Cholm Cille.

I’m off on my holidays to Ireland tomorrow. I’ll be spending a couple of days in Dublin, Galway and Inismor, and will then go to study some more Irish in Glencolmbcille. While I’m away, posting on this blog will probably become a bit sporadic.

Acronyms and abbreviations

By Simon

At the online sales conference I attended today, we were bombared with a bewildering multitude of acronyms and abbreviations. There was much talk of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) – even knowing what these abbreviations stand for doesn’t necessarily help you to understand them, in some cases.

An acronym is a pronounceable name made up of a series of initial letters or parts of words, such as NATO (North Altantic Treaty Organisation). Acro- is a combining form meaning something at a height, summit, top, tip, beginning or end. It comes from the Greek ακρος (akros) – extreme, topmost.

An abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase used in place of the whole. Abbreviate comes from the Latin Latin abbreviāre from the Latin brevis – brief.