Intercultural Communication and Translation News

Expats often underestimate the challenges of culture shock, and even those who’ve mastered adaptation are often unprepared for the adjustment the expat bubble itself demands.

A glazed stare, withdrawal, excessive sleep, overeating, under-eating – these aren’t side effects of some ill-fated psychosis, but believe it or not, symptoms of culture shock.

Sure, not every expat assumes zombie status post-arrival in the their new location, and each may find different degrees of homesickness and feelings of helplessness defining their transitions, but ultimately, this hurdle to adjustment is often much higher than most anticipate.

In fact, results from the 2010 Expat Arrivals (EA) Art of Relocation Survey showed that when participants were asked just what factor they’d “wished they’d known more about” in hindsight of their move, the biggest proportion cited “Overcoming Culture Shock” (46.7%). Five other factors, ranging from “Arranging a Visa/Work Permit” (24%) to “Education and Schools” (13.3%) received considerably less attention.

Rightfully so, the shock of moving to a new country can cause immense anxiety and frustration. Depending on just how different a new location is day-to-day experiences, simple tasks and normally low-maintenance logistics can be clouded in confusion and consternation.

What’s more, even though loss of routine and general disorientation can certainly be dizzying realities that often leave expats spinning, challenges created by an external environment aren’t the only source of culture shock.

Life inside the bubble

For many western expats, life in even the strangest of destinations can be lived in a self-contained sphere of cultural familiarity. It happens most commonly when foreigners perceive an uncrossable cultural barrier formed by complex language or religious structures – and in response, create isolated expat communities to regain a sense of control over their cultural environment.

“In terms of an insular expat destination, there is almost a palpable separation between yourself and the culture that you will NEVER traverse,” explains Kulturetolk intercultural trainer and consultant Anna Maria Moore. “There is a strong feeling of them versus us.”

These expat bubbles are commonly represented by physical space – expat compounds in Saudi Arabia, homats in Japan, or secure, gated communities in Nigeria. It follows that these shared spaces then act as a platform for a social subculture; a place where expats search for the lowest common denominator and form friendships accordingly.

“If you are lucky, or make a VERY large effort, you will meet and make friends with a few Japanese nationals; but for the most part, expats in Japan tend to surround themselves with other expats,” explains American transplant Lisa Jardine. “It makes an incredibly large city feel much smaller – sometimes too small.”

Subculture shock

In destinations where insular expat communities are the norm, the effect is a close, tight-knit network. Most social interaction is within the group, most expat families send their children to expat schools and, in some cases where the subculture is especially strong, the community takes the place of family.

“When you can’t read, write or speak the language of the country you live in, you are limited to how much you can move outside those confines,” asserts Jardine.

Though this system can be supportive at first, it can also become potentially poisonous.

“In Thailand and Nigeria we lived behind bars, gates and locked doors with guards 24 hours a day. This instils a sense of caution and fear and reinforces that “otherness”,” said Moore

In a sense, intensely insular expat communities can transform into “golden ghettoes”. Feelings of insecurity and notions of being completely removed from the world in which you live may be more apparent than ever before.

Unlike immigrant societies, which are “secluded”, expatriate communities are “exclusive,” writes Eric Cohen in “Current Sociology”, in that they close off or exclude an authentic experience of local life and its people.

This disconnectedness can begin to feel deliberate, even if it isn’t; guilt can get the better of even the most stubborn expat, particularly when so much affluence resides inside the compound walls relative to the standards of living outside.

Furthermore, interactions within the bubble can become blasé, and expats may come away feeling their environment has turned too one-dimensional. In some extreme instances, there are those that  would describe their relocation as a period in time in which they felt trapped.

Bursting the bubble

As culture transition strategist Heather Markel explains, there are plenty of simple steps expats can take to start waging war with standard culture shock: research, learning the local language, and hiring an expat coach.

But when it comes to digging in and doing battle with the kind of culture shock that comes from these insular expat communities, an alternative approach is often needed to come away successful.

Beyond all else expats should do their best to solidify at least one empathetic relationship outside of the bubble’s base camp. Allies are essential, both for business and personal relationships.

Moore recommends:

•            staying updated on current events so you can speak intelligently with locals
•            showing curiosity, interest and allowing locals to express their opinions
•            continuing to learn the language, no matter the sacrifice it requires
•            be willing to meet and mix with locals in even in the most basic of situations

Pushing yourself to sustain a social connection outside of the expat bubble will not only give you a breath of fresh air, it can also provide valuable insight into the interworkings of your destination.

According to the EA Art of Relocation Survey, participants cited “Local People” (70%) as the most helpful resource in making a successful relocation; even trumping the percentage of expats who found “Personal Contacts Within the Expat Community” to be helpful.

Often expats entering into an insular community have little choice upon initial arrival, but finding little outlets and making sure that you don’t feel boxed in and boarded up can be the difference in overcoming culture shock or sinking completely.

About the Author: Stephanie Katz is the editor of ExpatArrivals.com, a site that publishes over 100 online destination guides to help global expats plan their move abroad and optimize their lives on arrival. City-based experts works with the editorial team to produce constantly updated information covering 15 main content areas of significance to expats, inter alia, Accommodation, Money & Banking, Culture Shock, Healthcare, Education, Lifestyle, and Visas.

A “dialogue of the deaf”, that is the way that the Public Defender of Honchian Lin described the quality of translators provided to his client in Haifa, Israel.

During the initial questioning, trial and appeal of Lin for the brutal murder of his girlfriend, the Haifa police encountered difficulties in providing an adequate simultaneous translator for his interrogations. They initially canvassed a local Chinese stallholder; as the father of a police employee and someone working near to the station ‘Joe’ was the most convenient choice for the police. However it later emerged not only was Joe untrained for the position but was linguistically unsuitable for the role he had been given.

Lin was arrested in 2006 after a passerby discovered the dismembered body of his girlfriend Michelle Jamias in the street. Joe was brought in to act as a simultaneous translator on the first interrogation of Lin by the police. However Lin was not familiar with the Chinese dialect spoken by Joe (being from rural China where dialects vary) and spoke only a few limited sentences of Hebrew. This resulted in the translation of Lin’s statement being vague and disjointed, lacking accuracy in terms of what had been said and by whom. The evaluation of this evidence by the Supreme Court Justice, Yoram Danziger, has produced the verdict that the initial interview was both “degraded and unclear”

On this evidence the Haifa police seem to have failed Lin’s rights to be able to be treated to a fair judicial process. They failed to ascertain the suitability of Joe’s services in advance and when experiencing interview problems failed to find another translator. Although Lin confessed again in a second interview, he later was able to use the lack of fair translation as support for his claim that he had made a coerced compliant confession. This meant that Lin could claim that the pressure of being unable to communicate his story led to a confession that was obtained forcibly under duress. So not only had the suspect’s rights been violated but also the prosecution faced difficulties in convicting Lin of the crime which additional evidence (beyond his confessions) proved he had committed.

This case shows the pitfalls of inviting foreign workers into your country and then not providing for their basic needs. If a foreign worker falls sick, is accused of a crime or is called to witness then they need to be able to accurately receive and provide information. Does this case suggest that Israel, as an example, is unconcerned with such issues or is it simply the fact that funding is not available to provide for these needs? Either way countries have a responsibility to provide for those they invite in, they should not feel that the economic or other advantages of foreign workers outweighs the rights of these people to be treated as any other citizen.

Even after the Supreme Court Justice’s findings Lin was given a Mandarin translator for his appeal against his conviction, again unable to speak his rural dialect. More evidence that the service of translation and all its relevant nuances should not be overlooked, especially if you actively encourage speakers of other languages into your country.

Neil Payne, the managing director of UK-based intercultural communication company Kwintessential, knows how important it is for businesses today to develop a solid understanding of foreign cultures and markets in order to boost their competitiveness on the global stage. What kinds of challenges should European companies heading to China be on the lookout for?

Kwintessenial was set up in 2003 to answer to a growing need for language services and cultural awareness training of European businesses keen to tap foreign markets. The company provides a wide range of cultural awareness training as well as translation, interpreting, website design and publishing services in all major languages.

In recent years, China in particular has attracted a constant flow of foreign companies on its soil, which in turn has also highlighted the need for Chinese language services and cultural awareness training in Europe. Is demand for Chinese language still growing?

Read the full article at > Radio86.com

Different cultures and religions deal with the concept of death differently.  The use of medicine and health care varies across different cultures because of the beliefs of their people. Due to varying beliefs across cultures, there is a need for cultural understanding or cultural competence in medicine, especially in palliative care. ‘In medicine, cultural competence means providing health care services that are respectful of and responsive to the health beliefs, practices, and cultural and linguistic needs of diverse patients.’   The use of cultural competence is especially important in palliative care because people of varying cultures have very different approaches to dealing with death. (Palliative care improves the quality of life for patients who have a serious or life-threatening disease).
An organisation called the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) developed a project in 2005 to raise awareness of palliative care problems faced by its members (United States and the health ministries of Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Turkey). The aim of MECC’s project is to find a common ground between these 7 countries’ methods of dealing with palliative care. Part of this project is to give palliative care training to nurses, physicians and social workers which respects the varying spiritual beliefs between the countries involved.
In many hospitals, there are now nurses who are employed because they are of the same religion and cultural background to certain patients. For example Dr. Myriam Weyl Ben-Arush, (head of the Pediatric Hematology Oncology Department at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Israel) has Arabic-speaking nurses and social workers, as well as those who speak Hebrew. This is to ensure that staff can be empathetic to the spiritual needs of their patients.
Taking spiritual belief into account is important when dealing with death because people of different cultures have different beliefs. For example, a Druze family believes in reincarnation and an Arab Christian person believes in Heaven. So perhaps these people will find the idea of death less difficult than someone who does not believe in any kind of life after death.

Nestle has announced that it will open a research and development centre in India as part of a wider plan to harness the growing economy and young population of the country. This move reveals the current trend within larger Western companies to focus on India as a gateway to the emerging economies of the East.

Although India currently only makes up one percent of Nestle’s global sales, the fact that Indian sales increased by almost twenty percent in 2009 suggests that this may not be the case for much longer. The increasing youthfulness of the population means that Nestle faces a broader consumer base in India than it has ever seen before. This opportunity has not been missed by other companies, such as Kraft and Coca Cola, who have also increased their Indian investments in recent years. However Nestle is a key example of how this opportunity has been captured because of its distinctly personal and local angle to approaching the market.

Nestle will invest fifty million dollars in the research centre, which it aims to have completed by 2012. In addition it is further building two new factories, one of which will solely cater for its ‘Maggi noodles’ (a line that is very popular within India). These bases will be predominantly staffed by Indians and therefore economically important to the communities they are part of. This local employment is just one aspect of Nestle’s plan to make products that will both appeal to traditional Indian tastes and be affordable for local consumers. The plan is decidedly ‘local’ in that aims to listen to what its customers say; “we have to understand the consumer” says Klaus Zimmermann, Senior Vice President of Nestle. The company has already achieved popularity in India with the introduction of its Thrillin curry two-minute noodles and Sweet Chilli Sauce, now it plans to expand these ranges to provide nutritionally-enhanced foods that will appeal to the lower income market.

Nestle benefits from taking this localized approach in that through understanding the needs of its local market it also increases its global hold over the emerging economies of the East. Moreover this duality is vital in ensuring that Nestle retains the position it has established for itself in India. A. Helio Waszyk, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India, states that the company must “work harder to keep our presence and position”.

Indeed the position of companies within India is just part of the wider business competition over a network of ‘emerging economies’. Nestle alone predicts that fourty-five percent of its sales by 2020 will come from this emerging network. In this way Nestle’s localized approach to business doubles as a strategic way to break into these new international markets.

On a domestic level India is also the ideal place for expansion because of its history of innovation and inexpensive workforce, for example scientists in the country earn less than ten percent of the salaries of their Western counterparts. Taking into account all these factors it is not surprising that companies are investing in India, however the question is whether they will invest as locally and specifically in the needs of the country’s people as Nestle have done with this new venture.

When foreigners learn the English language, they tend to learn it through the use of the standard English accent. But what is the ‘standard English accent’? In Britain, we have so many different accents that are difficult to decipher even for the British people – never mind people from other countries. The story doesn’t stop here – how are people from other countries supposed to understand the local dialects that accompany the regional accents?
The American’s are known to have trouble understanding many British accents. There are numerous websites dedicated to training American’s to learn and understand British accents. So, although both America and Britain speak the same language, we seem to be lost in translation.
We have all heard that the X Factor is going to be aired in America where Cheryl Cole is reported to be a judge. However, there is concern that Cheryl’s North East Geordie accent may slightly damage her ‘likeability’ factor in America because of the worry that the American’s won’t be able to understand her accent. For example, the British television hosts, Ant and Dec had only a fleeting career on US television. This was because their accents were so incoherent to viewers that the produces had to make use of an interpreter to decipher words and phrases that couldn’t be understood. Perhaps the same will happen for Cheryl Cole.
So, although countries across the world are becoming virtually closer (due to business immigration, technology and translation help with cross cultural communication), we still remain faced with the problem of how people who speak the same language can understand each other!

A translation error has almost left Russian prisoners at a UK prison heading to the ‘execution yard’ for their daily exercise.

The error was found within an information booklet aimed at Russian-speaking prisoners serving time at Lincoln prison. A member of staff spotted the mistake at the proofing stage: where the outside area should have been labelled the ‘exercise yard’ it was alarmingly labelled the ‘execution yard’.

This was the only mistake found in the booklet but it is in many ways a serious one. Whilst some people who can recognise the mistake might find it “a bit of a joke” Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons, has been quick to demonstrate how such a mistake might not seem funny to a prisoner.

Prison can be a disorientating experience, especially for first-time prisoners. If this experience is coupled with an inability to communicate proficiently with other prisoners and staff then this feeling is magnified. Russian prisoners who rely on such information booklets, possibly as their only means of fully understanding the situation, could quite easily believe that an ‘execution yard’ exists and will be used. If this error had been published then it might have resulted in some prisoners feeling both confused and fearful. Even if they had recognised the mistake some distress could still have been caused. As Hardwick explicates some prisoners may come “from a country that still [has] execution yards” in which case such an error “wouldn’t be a funny thing” to them.

This error is clearly a sign that translation should be taken seriously if foreign national prisoners are to slot as easily as possible into the prison system. Prisons have the responsibility not only to serve as a means of punishment and rehabilitation, but also to uphold a basic level of care for all prisoners under their supervision. When these rights are not seen to be upheld then prisoners can become troubled, for example in Lincoln significant riots took place in both 2002 and 2005. Any action that may result in the distress of prisoners, who may already feel disorientated, is not useful in terms of both the individual prisoners’ health and the health of the overall prison infrastructure.

Although Lincoln prison has been praised for having a better range of translated information available than other British prisons, it is clear that this information is not always “entirely accurate”. Whilst Lincoln can be seen as a positive example of the efforts made to improve the range of translated materials available to prisoners, it must also be seen less flatteringly as an example of how quantity does not always mean quality when it comes to translation.