Resources: Notes on Life and Language in the United States

Are you an international professional or student working in the US and preparing for a presentation?

Is interviewing in the United States the same as interviewing in other cultures?

What is communication? How are culture and communication related? In previous articles, we have talked about why you need more than just English skills to be successful in your career and in your life in the United States. Being able to use American English expressions correctly in conversation is important, but what about the other parts of communication such as the ways in which diffferent cultures use silence and levels of directness and indirectness in answering a question? The first step to communicating successfully with people from other cultures is understanding your own communication style. In this post, we will talk about two different ways of communicating that you might encounter in your intercultural workplace.

The best way to learn more about the ways in which culture impacts our lives is to talk to people who have experienced the life challenge of moving to a new country to live, work and/or study.  A few weeks ago, I sat down with Rodrigo, a Bolivian law student who moved to Boston about a year ago, to talk about his adjustment to life in the United States. During our conversation about culture, we talked about what was challenging for him about moving to the US, differences in communication styles here and what it's like to be interviewed for graduate school in the US. We would like to hear about your experiences as well.  If you would like to share your thoughts about life in the US and US culture and help us with our latest project, please contact us and we will arrange an appointment.

What are the 6 stages of culture shock and how do they affect you, as an international professional or student in Boston or in another part of the United States?

 If you are an international professional, working and living in the United States, English and Culture are the tools you need to succeed. Anyone from another country who has ever tried to complete a business deal, apply for a job or even strike up a conversation with an American will tell you that just being able to speak English is not enough to be successful in the United States. However, a lot of international professionals come to the US and reach a high level of English but then realize that they are still not succeeding at work. What's missing? It might be culture!  In this post, I will offer 4 reasons culture is more important than you think. 

Are cultural transitions challenging for you?

Cultural intelligence is a person's ability to adjust their behavior to a new cultural environment. Is cultural intelligence common sense? Is it something that you can just "figure out" by living in a new culture? Some people think it is but then they realize that their business interactions aren't going smoothly with their new American colleagues in New York and they can't figure out why.  Cultural intelligence is not always common sense. It is knowledge and skills that many people don't realize that they need until they make a mistake. In today's post I have some suggestions about how you can improve your cultural intelligence by observing, speaking with local people and asking "why?"