I have just returned from a Summer Exchange Program in Seoul, Korea and realized the importance of communicating effectively especially when speaking to foreigners. As the Summer Exchange Program consist of people from various parts of the World, it is even more important to speak clearly as there exist vast cultural differences. From my personal experience, some foreigners were not able to understand what I was saying, and I have to repeat my point several times. I think the reasons could be that either I was speaking too fast, did not speak in proper English or did not articulate every single word properly this conclusion which I arrived to was actually agreed by a few other Singaporeans.
In addition, growing up in Singapore for 20 odd years, the culture and the language usage which I was exposed to is different from the foreigners. Cultural difference, hence, could be another factor which affected the interaction between the foreigners and I. I tend to use "Singlish" when speaking with my family and friends, and it could that I am so used to it that I could not adjust and deliver my point across properly to foreigners, but to Singaporeans, it was fine.
Furthermore, some might say that it is the accent which hinders the interaction. However, I, personally, do not think so. In fact, I feel that is it the cultural differences in the usage of the language and one's proficiency of the language that might actually affect the communication process. For instance, in Singapore, where most Singaporeans speak to one another casually in "Singlish", it does not really matter as we are able to understand one another, but if Singaporeans were to speak to foreigners in "Singlish", the idea may not be brought across, and the usage of "Singlish" might even cause some misinterpretation of the actual meaning. Hence, understanding the environment that you are in and the cultural differences, in terms of language use, of other countries is actually very important if you wish to ensure that the other party fully understood you.
In fact, in today's context where Singapore is constantly welcoming foreign companies and talents, effective communication becomes even more important as we have to ensure that the foreigners understood our ideas.
Therefore, I believe that depending on the environment, audience's culture and their language proficiency, the speaker should determine and choose the appropriate communication style to use.
Hi Mingwei,
ReplyDeleteit's always interesting to read about the experiences one had when they went somewhere new. The cultural change must be refreshing yet intimidating I suppose! I agree with your take in terms of the accent segment of your post. Interpreting what someone is trying to express, should take into account the context of the speaker's background and the relation you have with the speaker. Accent is just, in my opinion, a technicality. Your ending paragraph is quite inspiring, makes me want to know and learn different communication styles!
In terms of your post, some sentences are a tad long, and I felt more emphasis can be placed on how Effective Communication is important to you personally. That said, I enjoyed reading your blogpost, and here's hoping more experiences will be shared here!
Ruo Yan
Ruo Yan,
ReplyDeleteYes, the culture differences among humans on the same Earth can be quite scary sometimes. That could be the reason why I find that communication really requires a lot of knowledge and it can be quite difficult to actually communicate effectively.
Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it!
Mingwei.
Hi Mingwei,
ReplyDeleteThis is my personal opinion but I find that Singlish is actually a very "powerful language". Whether we choose to end our sentences with 'meh', 'mah', 'hor', 'leh', 'loh' or 'lar' can convey a different meaning or tone. But perhaps it is this laziness inherent in Singlish that we forget to be mindful of our phrasing and choice of words.
I agree with your points about culture and environment, but I do think that accent can make a difference too. My friend had an exchange in the US and the people there only understood her when she tried to be bimbotic.. or blonde.. and spoke with an American accent. In engineering, some non-Singaporean lecturers have a very heavy accent and it is frankly very tiring on the receiving end to guess what he was saying.
I guess in any case, it is best to keep the sentences short and simple when communicating with someone of a different culture.
The vast differences that spread across multiple cultures are evident and English, being a universal language, is often used to communicate various ideas across continents.
ReplyDeleteHowever, despite the fact that English is a universal language, due to the difference in accents and non-verbal cues that people use, it could still result in a breakdown in the communication process.
Hence, when communicating with people across different cultures, I feel that it is important for one to keep an open mind and learn from each other different communication techniques that can help to facilitate better communication the next time s/he converses with him/her.
More importantly, if one could learn some commonly used words/phrases of the other language, it would definitely lead to a higher success rate in communicating ideas/messages to the other party.
The way to handle this would be to know when and where one need to speak standard English and when and where to break into Singlish. Also speaking slowly and clearly is essential when you are meeting people for the first time. You are creating impressions - don't forget.
ReplyDelete