Can you imagine what it’d be like to travel around the world?

If you have ever fantasized about traveling around the world in one go, take a look at this blog by Andy Stoll, a self-described filmmaker, writer, social entrepreneur and independent traveler who set out in August 2006 on his two-year trip. As Andy shares his travelogue, he also shares some interesting insight into his intercultural findings [...]

When translations go wrong

Kwintessential shares this link to a Guardian article that reports on how mistaken words and a literal translation provided by translation web site Babel Fish, almost led to a diplomatic incident. It is an interesting read, but not necessarily surprising. I often use Babel Fish to help me in translating messages to French and Spanish for both business and personal communications. However, [...]

Presenting to an International Audience

MattMacL shares some great tips on his Working Abroad blog on how to present to audiences whose first language is not English. These include adapting your language to the audience and cutting out idioms. He also highlights the pitfalls that may exist:
The tendency is to think that one can go into a presentation without having [...]

Tipping Around the World

It is a subject we have explored in the past: in which countries does one tip and how much. On a recent trip to Costa Rica, I asked how much a tour guide would earn in tips if leading a group on a full-day tour. When told the amount I naturally asked if that figure [...]

Take a look at your emoticons

Americans and Japanese read faces differently according to this article in LiveScience.
For instance, in Japan, people tend to look to the eyes for emotional cues, whereas Americans tend to look to the mouth …
The article follows the study by researcher Masaki Yuki, a behavioral scientist at Hokkaido University in Japan, and delves into clues from [...]

Avoid a Faux Pas when Doing Business Overseas

USA Today provides a great cheat sheet of foreign etiquette tips around the world. For example in Japan, never write on a business card or shove the card into your back pocket when you are with the giver; while in Egypt, showing the sole of your foot or crossing your legs when sitting is an [...]

Training Key to Hospitality Beyond Borders

It is interesting from both a training and cross-cultural perspective that hospitality professionals from Brazil are being sought to ease staffing shortages in Oman, Jordan, Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. According to this article from ArabianBusiness.com, a big draw for many Brazilian workers who have moved there has been the reputation of the in-house training [...]

Cultural Sensitivity When Traveling Overseas

The cross-cultural faux pas on the part of Cameron Diaz on her recent trip to Peru has made headlines internationally. According to USA Today, the actress apologized yesterday for carrying a bag with the famous political slogan of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong. The article notes:
The bags are marketed as fashion accessories in some world [...]