Fostering Intercultural Communication

Intercultural situations may arise in many shapes and forms. Certain nations, such as Singapore, are privileged in the fact that they have a diverse array of cultures. As a result, learning to work with and appreciate the various cultures within those culturally diverse nations would become paramount for the people of those nations. As a Singaporean, I have worked with many friends who come from different cultural backgrounds, and as such, I have had many intercultural interactions.

However, when I think of intercultural scenarios and their effects, the first thing that came to my mind was a British comedy series named, “Mind Your Language”. If you have not heard of it, let me give you a short synopsis. “Mind Your Language” is about the events and experiences of an English teacher who is assigned to teach the English language to a class of foreign nationals. In fact, every student in the class hails from a different part of the world. They have their own cultures and varied understanding of the English language. As a direct result of this cultural diversity, many intercultural situations and interactions occur within and outside the classroom, often resulting in side-splitting humour.

So, for my intercultural scenario, please take a look at the very short video below.

In the scenario depicted in the video, the teacher wanted the student to concoct a sentence that begins with “You are”. However, as is clearly evident, the student was not able to comprehend the question. This resulted in confusion, frustration, anger and eventually, a mini riot.

Clearly, having a common language is pertinent in fostering better intercultural understanding. When two people of different cultures share a common language, they can share their cultures with each other more effectively. Furthermore, if those two people are equally proficient in the common language, it can go a long way to preventing cultural misunderstandings which can lead to confusion, frustration and anger.