upgrade on language and intercultural communication

1. Language

2. Language isn’t everything

3. Things sometimes mean different
things

4. Sometimes this is rude

5. Some things are more important

6. Complimenting can sometimes be a
problem

7. I like your tie

8. Some people may feel they have to
give it to you!!

9. How about filling each other’s glass?

10. Not everyone does that

11. Using the left hand to eat

12. Very rude in some countries

13. Only used in the toilet!!

14. Punctuality

15. In some countries …

16. … lateness is expected

17. Sometimes it is more polite

18. Slurping

19. Is it good?

20. Or bad?

21. It depends

22. British people usually think it’s terrible

23. • Even smiling can be a problem sometimes!
• Gestures depend on context

24. Very rude in some countries

25. Beckoning

26. Can be a problem

27. May not translate

28. So LANGUAGE is important

29. What’s the best language for
intercultural communication?

30. It depends

31. Maybe language isn’t important
• Cross-cultural competence
• Knowledge about other cultures
• Understanding other people’s feelings
• Confidence in your own knowledge and self
• Cultural identity (knowledge of your own
culture)
• Language ability?!

32. Language isn’t important?

33. Adaptability

34. Even if you are great at languages …

35. … you might NOT be a great
communicator

36. … you might not be aware of others.

37. You might have the wrong kind of
understanding

38. But language IS important

39. English IS important

40. The MOST important?

41. It depends on you

42. But it’s not a BAD idea

43. It’s not BAD to study English HARD

44. It won’t do any HARM

45. So study hard anyway

46. Maybe in 10 years, you’ll be living in
Russia

47. Maybe you should be studying
Russian?

48. Who knows?

49. But studying ENGLISH hard …

50. … is good preparation anyway

51. OK, but how about China?

52. ONLY 144 million speakers of Russian
in the world!

53. But Chinese is different

54. Mandarin Chinese

55. How many native speakers of English?

56. Less than 400 million!

57. That’s almost no one!!

58. How about Mandarin Chinese?

59. One billion people!

60. Almost 15% of the world’s population!

61. English native speakers – less than 6%

62. That’s almost no one!!

63. Less than Spanish!!

64. More native speakers of Spanish!

65. … than English!!?

66. Forget about English!

67. English is rubbish!

68. Why does anyone care about English?

69. Are English native speakers BETTER
than others?

70. Better than other native speakers?

71. Yes

72. Yes

73. English-speaking dogs are better, too!

74. OK, that’s not true

75. But why, oh why, oh why …?

76. … is English SO important?

77. Simple answer:
• It’s not native speakers
• It’s NOT me
• It’s YOU
• NON-native speakers are the reason

78. How many non-native speakers?
• For every 1 native speaker of English …
• … there are about 3 non-native speakers of
English
• So YOU have the power
• Work like crazy to GET English
• And make the power work for YOU
• That’s my advice

79. • If you are an English major …
• … and you’re not studying like crazy …
• … then you ARE crazy!!

80. The people here

81. And here

82. And here …

83. Are ALL learning English

84. That’s why English IS important

85. Don’t blame me

86. It’s you

87. But it’s not JUST language

88. Understanding people’s attitudes is
important

89. English is complicated

90. English spread because of Empire

91. People like him

92. Captain Henry Morgan

93. 17th century pirate

94. In the Caribbean

95. Pirates of the Caribbean

96. Britain had lots of coal

97. The conditions were just right

98. To take advantage of industrial
advances

99. Economic opportunities

100. And the Empire spread

101. The English-speaking world had power

102. Maybe it still does

103. About 27% of internet USERS are
English speakers

104. About 55% of CONTENT is in English

105. That’s not fair

106. • About 25% of internet USERS are Chinese
speakers
• Only about 4% of internet CONTENT is in
Chinese
• So maybe English is TOO powerful
• OK, so study like crazy to get power for
YOURSELF!

107. But the spread of English is a REALITY

108. People from the Caribbean are native
speakers of English

109. • About 100% of Jamaicans are English speakers
• Only about 85% of Canadians (French is also
spoken)
• 90% of people from the Netherlands
• 85% of Swedish people
• 80% of Singaporeans
• 65% of Germans
• 55% of people from the Philippines

110. How about Japan?

111. Who cares?

112. • Just study like crazy
• Get all the power you can get
• Speak for your country
• Be a hero

113. But try to understand how people feel

114. Everyone has a complicated
relationship to English

115. Except for ENGLISH people

116. Here’s England

117. England

118. Here’s where I’m from -- Wales

119. Wales is an ancient culture

120. The culture of Wales 2,000 years ago

121. The culture of Wales today

122. • Everyone speaks English
• But some people speak Welsh nearly all the
time
• And many people don’t really like speaking
English
• They don’t want to speak English to English
people

123. Similar situation in Ireland

124. People are happy to speak English

125. But they were treated very badly by
the English

126. They used the English language to fight
for independence

127. Independence from England

128. Similar to Ireland

129. High standards of English

130. They used English to fight for
independence

131. So understanding culture …

132. … isn’t ALL about English …

133. … but you can use the language…

134. … to get the power YOU NEED

135. So study like crazy