What is intercultural and interpersonal communication ? Intercultural communication means understand how people from different places and cultures behave, communicate and understand the world around them.Interpersonal communication means the process of giving and receiving information between two or more people. In a project team or group usually consist of different people from different culture and countries. Communication is what hold the project team or group together.
My blog group consist of 4 Singaporean and 2 Malaysian including me. Is hard for me to communicate with my group-mate since my English proficiency is very poor, and i feel shy because of it. I know that if i don't say anything or start communicate with them,i will face potential problem in the future. I always smile every-time my blog group member started talking to me, to make sure they don't feel uncomfortable. In the beginning of the blog group days, i always add some humor in my conversation to improve my relationship in my group. I will feel a bit nervous when people look at me and i look at them in the eye.Since to have effective communication, this is a must for me. So i use alternate ways by looking at people nose when they talk to me. I will try my best in effective communication.
My blog group are all very friendly, but most of them are quiet. Although our group don't have diversity of culture, but each of my group mate has their own uniqueness and behavior. We usually use nonverbal communication like smiling to show that we are fine. When it come to discussion, my group mates Andy and Joon Wai will always willing to lead the discussion.In our discussion, all of us in the group including me are willing to share our knowledge with the whole group, that actually very good. I very satisfies and happy with my blog group, is very comfortable when working with them.
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Hi jeisern,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you are happy working together in our blog group.First of all i would like to say that you have given us a very good example.We don't have to look for others examples of culture as our CG1413 class is already a class which consists of many cultures.We have people of all races with different cultural background.In your post you mentioned about non verbal communication.I would like to add a point that there are many meanings for non verbal communication according to different cultures.For example,some hand languages may contain different meanings according to cultures so we have to be careful when using non verbal language.
Joon Wai.
Hi Jeisern,
ReplyDeleteI would like to add that smiling is a very important tool in communication :) People usually prefer to talk to a person who is jolly rather then someone who is gloomy.
Every new team usually starts off with some awkwardness and it takes time for everyone to become familiar with each other. Sometimes, there is a person who, for a lack of a better word, is called the team "joker". He helps break the ice by injecting humor or sometimes even being the butt of the jokes. Others might find him a fool, but in actual fact, he plays a vital role of bridging the differences between people.
Regards
Corn
Hey Jeisern,
ReplyDeleteLaughter is a universal language. And it breaks down the barriers of talking to someone for the first time. Which is why even across cultures, a smile will dissolve any tension and aid the working out of a solution. There are different types of non-verbal communication, hand signs, facial expressions, and also body postures can be used to signal various emotions to the people around them.
Being open to conversation is the first step to understanding different cultures. It's good that you are friendly and welcoming, in order to promote more interaction with the blog group and the class. :) Keep it up!
-Anni
Hey Jeisern,
ReplyDeleteTo begin, i would like to say that your English proficiency is definitely adequate, and you do not have to feel shy to speak up during the blog group discussions.
And yes, i agree fully that laughter helps to break down any barriers that might arise during initial meetings. Coming across as joyful, is definitely a plus point in itself. However, one must be careful in smiling/laughing too much as well, as it might easily come across as being pretentious as well.
On the next point, i agree differences not only arise from having different cultures, but also different characters and working styles. Though this might be irrelevant to our topic, the solutions to solving such character/working style differences is the same as solving the problem of different cultures.
Lastly, Jeisern, your post was a joy to read, and i look forward to seeing your next post.