| Helping Businesses To Overcome The Language Barrier |
| Invention Development Advice - Marketing | |||
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The language barrier is an obstacle for many, from the business person struggling to sell overseas to the tourist unable to order what they want from the menu, but the best way to overcome it is to understand it.
The language barrier is an obstacle for many, from the business person struggling to sell overseas to the tourist unable to order what they want from the menu, but the best way to overcome it is to understand it. To define what the language barrier is, on a simple level, one could say it is the inability of an individual or group of people to communicate with another. When we look into it though, the language barrier becomes much more complex. Firstly, the language barrier does not only hinder communication but impedes understanding and the relationship building process between the two parties. Secondly, the language barrier will have a different impact depending on when and where it is experienced. For example, two strangers sharing a drink in an airport departure lounge whilst waiting for a delayed flight might bond more easily thanks to an embarrassing misunderstanding but the same situation played out in a business context between an export sales manager and their overseas customer could have disastrous effects. Thirdly, the language barrier is made up of a variety of different elements which combine to hinder communication and understanding; it is not simply a single impediment. Miscommunication is one of the most important elements of the language barrier. Miscommunication often arises when we are too informal or use metaphors (especially sporting ones) such as 'level playing field', which rarely translate and are easily misunderstood in more formal business cultures. Another important factor to the language barrier is the process of attributing our ideas and beliefs onto the other person. For example, if a person starts speaking in our native language we immediately think they are as good as us and launch into our mother tongue, only to baffle and bewilder them and most likely cause awkwardness and embarrassment. A near fluent speaker could suffer the same fate as we attribute our British ideas and values onto them just because their spoken English is so good only to ignore their own cultural beliefs in the process and probably cause offence. To overcome the language barrier is simple...learn something of the language and respect the differences in culture. This is the only true way to build harmonious and lasting relationships both for business and for pleasure. More information: To find out more information language barriers and how you can over come this visit RLN West Midlands
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