On Brazen Careerist, I’ve read a series of fascinating posts on how cultural stereotypes can be assets, by Valentina Thörner da Cruz, a German woman living in Barcelona. In this post she explains how her typically German emphasis on structure helps her at work. I think this is excellent advice for anyone writing for business, especially in a foreign language.
(1.) Worry about the content, not the language. Writing a well structured and easily understandable paper is not the same as “writing beautiful”. If I were to worry too much about the beauty of my language I would never get everything done. And here is the thing: I am not a copywriter. I do not write for marketing purposes. I write to explain things. To make complicated relations clear to people from outside (the company, the project, the team). If these things are to be published they need to go through the hands of a native-speaking copywriter anyway (as I usually write in foreign languages). So get rid of the idea to write everything in perfect style. The understandibility is the important thing (and yes, you may create new words if necessary).
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(5) The first proofreader should be somebody who doesn’t know the project. This will give you relevant feedback on whether your style is easy enough for new people to understand it. Don’t underestimate the impact of your own implicit knowledge which you cannot expect everybody to have. [more]
In my experience, China’s educational system also values structure, but it’s more top-down-listen-to-the-teacher structure than let-me-figure-out-how-best-to-express-my-ideas structure. I look forward to sharing this advice with my students.
I can definitely identify with her idea of cultural stereotypes as assets. I’m American. Some of the positive stereotypes ascribed to my nationality: friendly to strangers, wealthy, sporty, etc. I think my friendliness has been an asset in the workplace, both at home and here in China. There are also plenty of negative ones: oblivious to the rest of the world, bad at learning foreign languages, etc. I find myself consciously challenging these stereotypes by reading a lot and speaking Chinese and Spanish as much as possible (though ideally not in the same conversation.)
What stereotypes are ascribed to you, based on your nationality, and how have they affected your professional communications?
-Leslie
2 comments so far...
Let me say right off that I’m a journalist and an American. But even before I was a journalist, when I was in foreign countries doing interviews for field studies I noticed something. I think that people in foreign countries expect Americans to be inappropriate and (kindly) bold. I sometimes wonder if I get away with asking incredibly direct, bordering-on-inappropriate questions, without any build up whatsoever. By “get away with” I mean that my questions get answered. Usually people laugh a bit first, and then there’s this look of amusement, and then I get answer that’s almost as direct– quite the feat when asking a question of Arab-male culture, I think.
I like how you point out that being seen as inappropriate and bold actually helps your research, and allows you to get direct responses when you ask direct questions.
This reminds me of a conversation I had at a recent party. A Chinese friend greeted me with, “You look a little fat, and very happy!” She then explained (with a smile, of course) that she knows I’m direct so that means she can be direct too.
Thanks for the thought-provoking comment!
-L
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