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- Introduction
- What is culture?
- Culture is like an Iceberg
- Culture and its core elements
- What is intercultural communication?
- Which are the challenges in intercultural communication?
- Transnational communication skills
- Enhancing cultural awareness for transnational communication
- Choosing adequate communication strategies
- Intercultural Conflict Management
- Stumbling blocks in Intercultural Communication
- Which are the elements that may lead to a conflict situation?
- Conflict strategies
- Conflict prevention
- Working on the intercultural image of the organisation
- What is the “image” of an organisation?
- Why should you adapt the image of your organisation to cultural premises?
- How can you work on your intercultural image?
- Quiz
- External resources
Transnational communication skills
Why are other skills other than speaking foreign languages important?
When communicating with members from other cultures it is often good to know a common language. But even then there is a risk of getting across only a part of the message. The reason is that there are certain layers in language that are culture-specific.
Just take a minute to reflect: Do you think the concept of “friendship” or “family” is exactly the same in all cultures?
In fact the concepts differ depending on culture (for differences between northern Europe and southern Europe see (Lüsebrink, 2016, p. 53) and between European countries and Arab ones (Ghadban, 2020). This is why language competence is not the only tool to avoid intercultural communication challenges (Barmeyer, 2012, p. 85).
Sometimes it is even more effective to develop other skills for effective transnational communication that help to adapt and to react to the specific needs of the intercultural communication situation. It is not possible to discuss all skills that may be useful in such situations. In the following you will be introduced so some helpful skills for you as a volunteer working in an international project or wanting to start working internationally. Those skills focus on enhancing cultural awareness and on communication strategies.