Trunk-or-Treat

Today the whole English-speaking world is celebrating Halloween. It has also become quite popular in Russia. But here there are many opposers of the holiday in its traditional way. There seem to be those who don't welcome it in the USA either.  Pastor Jason Reed from Evangelical Lutheran Church in Beloit, Wis suggests a new way to do Halloween. Read more - http://www.npr.org/2013/10/31/241642597/a-new-way-to-do-halloween-chocolate-chunks-in-the-trunk

Gift-giving.

In many countries some presents are a taboo. Read an article Chinese-Gift-Giving to find out what should be avoided in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Are these things a good present in other cultures? What other gifts are not welcome in different cultures and why?

British vs American Part 1

British vs American

Listen to Luke's Podcasts about Americanisms and continue the list of British - American vocabulary that we did in class. 

Twitter for Researchers from University of York Library

Grammar test.

A good grammar test. Can you pass?

A CLIL TO CLIMB: Punctuation..? A review

A CLIL TO CLIMB: Punctuation..? A review: Definition  Macmillan defines it as “the use of marks such as full stops or commas in order to write in a clear style”. Oxford...

Task

The Video Cross Cultural Mistakes while Travelling mentions several gestures - for example, thumb up gesture which means "everything is fine" in Britain but  has different meanings in different countries - what other meanings does it have and where?

Secrets of body language.

Cross Cultural Mistakes.

Blogging

Results of poor cross cultural awareness.

What impact do you think poor cross cultural awareness may have on business? Read the following  article Results of poor cross cultural awareness. Find some more examples on the internet.

Oops

Cultural Blunders

ICEBERG MODEL BY SELFRIDGE AND SOKOLIK, 1975 AND W.L. FRENCH AND C.H. BELL IN 1979

What do you think about the model of culture offered by Selfridge and  Sokolik?

Introduction.

“Ninety per cent of CEOs believe that if cross-border communication were to improve, profit, revenue and market share would all improve as well. Yet many are not doing enough to address the challenge” - Competing across borders, The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2013
This blog is aimed at students and teachers of business English. In this blog we will discuss different aspects of culture (such as culture's values, perceptions, manners, social structure, and decision-making practices, an understanding of how members of the group communicate--verbally, non-verbally, in person, in writing, and in various business and social contexts) and their impact on cross cultural communication. Thus, we will be able to avoid the pitfalls that might await us in cross cultural communication.
Like speaking a foreign language or riding a bicycle, cross-cultural communication involves a skill component that may best be learned and mastered through instruction and practice: simply reading about it is not enough.