Resources: Notes on Life and Language in the United States

What are the advantages of being bilingual? For an international professional in the United States and his or her family members, being able to switch between English and their native language might be tough in the beginning. However after living and working here for a while, expatriates find that if they immerse themselves in the English language, they will learn to speak English naturally. They can create a bilingual household. A lot of researchers believe that being bilingual has real advantages for brain development. In today's post, I will review an article from The Daily Beast by Casey Schwartz called "Why It's Smart to Be Bilingual".

Is global leadership a part of your career in the United States? If you are an international professional working in New York or Boston and you are collaborating with people from different cultures at work, you are a global leader! How successful are you at global leadership? Are you able to communicate clearly with your team members or do you sometimes misunderstand them? Do you have the same work style as your colleagues? If not, how is that affecting your ability to work together? In the United States these days, most large companies have employees from all different parts of the world. Learn how to be successful in your career in the United States! In this post, find out what the crucial skills are that every global leader must have to be successful at work.

When we start our lives in a new country, we always come with expectations.

 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?"