Cross-cultural communication

Culture in the broadest sense comprises the modes of beliefs, customs, institutions, objects, and techniques developed, used and passed down from generation to generation via language and all other modes of communicating including writing, architecture gesture, painting, music, fashion, food and so on. Culture is the way that a large group of people do things, built up over time and transmitted from one generation to the next. Without culture we would be like animals.

However, we cannot find two persons who share the exactly same culture. Even identical twins will grow gradually different as their lives go on. They may have different hobbies, meet different people and become members of different cultures and subcultures. Thus, the best way to be a member of a certain culture is to speak their language.

Each culture has its distinct uniqueness due to the differences from one another, and this also explains the diversity in the respective languages. Such diverse differences in cultures and languages give rise to difficulties in communication between and across cultures. If speakers of one language have certain words to describe something specific and speakers of another language lack similar words, then the former will find it easier to talk about those things.

The use of language can also reflect the origin of that person’s culture or subculture. And as we may have new cultures or subcultures being formed everyday; new terms, or a new form of language, will also be created everyday. Consider the culture of the internet and the language that evolved. There are thousands of jargons, acronyms and icons have been created since the introduction of the internet, and more to come. There are even dictionaries for this new language, Net Lingua.  

As we all knew, the internet first meant to help everyone in all sorts of ways. Yet it is also proven that it refrains us from controlling it in some points. Thus, as a smart user, we should reconsider what and why we need this new technology. We should just use it when need without being addicted to it. Otherwise, it won’t be long that we will turn into the batteries that run the internet instead of the master of it. Let's hope that by that time, we either won't be there to experience it or "Neo" will be there to save us.

Live in the new era. Think in the new era.

Multitasking

Computers allow us to multitask. We can chat with friends while watching TV on the internet. We can chat with lots of friends at the same time. Yet multitasking is not new to our daily lives. Just ask any housewife. Isn’t it that your mother been cooking different dishes for dinner while washing clothes and taking care of you? Without chatting online, we can still talk on the phone while watching TV and doing our assignments. Whether we can multitask or not also depends on our multitask ability. That is if we can handle so many different things without going insane or, at least, sending the message to a wrong person.

Traditional economy vs. Attention economy

Back to the old days when advertising was not popular, people traded by money and products. Thus, assets refer to money and products which they sold. However, in this new era, people do not just do business this way. In order to broaden their sales network, they need a popular, well known by others to represent their products in order to get more attention from potential clients. Look around then you will find lots of international brands have hired well known people from different walks of lives as representatives of their products. Tiger Woods, Michael Jackson, Sonali Bendre, Daniel Craig. We can easily name a few. These people have positive image and a huge group of followers. People worship them and will follow whatever they say, just like some people will immediately want to buy the iPad2 right after Steve Jobs’ presentation. Yet one of the problem is they must have and maintain this positive image. Otherwise, they will lose their contracts or bring negative image to the product they represent. For example, years ago, Michael Jackson was the spokesperson for Pepsi yet he was dehydrated during his concert. Immediately, Coca Cola published a simple ad “Dehydrated? There’s always Coke!”

Also, we have to change our mindset to accept that “asset” can be divided into tangible and intangible. Tangible assets refer to money and products. Intangible assets refer to whatever we process yet cannot be valued in terms of money, for example our image, knowledge, connection with other people, etc. There is an old saying, our new saying, about looking for jobs: it’s not what you can do, it’s whom you know.

To be successful, we should think in a broader sense. For example, intellectual property was, and still is, a hot topic. Although it cracks our brains to invite a product, no matter it’s a book, a song or an electronic device, we of course do not want others to copy and make money from our hard-working output without paying us. Yet if we think from a macro view, some people illegally downloaded the song and like it. They want to know more about us and be our followers. Then they will want to buy other things from us. We may have lost something at the beginning but at the end of the day we may be able to gain back what we have lost. Just buy and sell is short term. To make a real fortune is what we want in long term.

A game is not just a game

We used to play games alone at home for fun and relaxation, sometimes to de-stress our stressful lives. However, with the help of the internet, we can now play games with our friends without having the hassle to travel to their homes. Online games now have another “mission”: to help us connect to each other. For example, popular games, such as Wii and xBox, allow people to connect via wifi at home to play games together, for example fighting together as a team against the other team.

There are also other online platforms and website, such as Facebook and BigFishGames.com, which supply us with lots of different kinds of online games. However, there intention may be different. For example there are lots of online games on Facebook and they are mostly free. These games provide us another way to be connected to our friends such sharing and sending gifts or working together to accomplish certain task. However, we may need to BE online every several hours to check on our progress. Thus, these games also help to maintain the popularity of the websites.

However, games could really help us in other ways such as improving our language ability. I have lots of friends who admitted that they learned Japanese just because they needed to play Japanese games. It is not difficult to know why. We need to learn, at least, adequate amount of English if we want to play a game. From reading the user manual to reading the instructions all the way when we play, we need to read and understand it. Not to mention when we have to search the internet and consult other players for help when we cannot accomplish a task.

Learning English with adventure games is an article about learning English with adventure games and why it is good. Please click, read and enjoy.

Some people may get addicted to online games and cannot stop. It is quite frequent to have news on the newspaper saying people addicted to online games and fainted or even tried to commit suicide when they lost their “tools” in the game. However, games can also help us in other ways we may not notice. Again, everything has there constraints and affordance. It’s completely depends on how we use and treat them.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The internet definitely has improved our communication and connection with others. We can now be connected to people who are over a distance and even strangers.

Source: http://www.phpbb.com/

Internet forums, such as phpBB, are the basic platform for people to share knowledge and experiences. We can post our question or whatever we want to share online, common known as a “thread”, and wait for other guests to help us or to give their feedback.

Source: http://www.hku.hk/

However, these new collaborative tools also have their constraints and restrictions. For example, it is not a common practice, rather a taboo, to use them in working environment. Let’s take my company as an example. All of our documents are classified as confidential. Thus, we cannot post or even use personal emails for communication or sending attachments since there is no 100% guaranteed security system on the internet. Everyone could have a chance to get hold of everything that was sent via the internet. For example, the software “Foxy” was meant to let people share their files. If I wanted to download the latest Lady GaGa Single, all I have to do is to search via Foxy. The software will search those’ computers who have installed it then I could download the Single from their hard disc. However, there were numerous incidents that even the government’s confidential documents were exposed.

Everything has its affordances and constraints. However, whether it is an affordance or a constraint, it completely depends on how we use them and if we use it wisely.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/

A complex idea may need  thousands of words to describe. However, it can also be conveyed with just a single simple picture.


Source: National Geographic


Above is a well-known photo of an Afghan girl taken by Steve McCurry, posted on the cover of National Geographic magazine. You can see from her big green eyes her fear, emptyness and loss. You do not need to read the article in order to understand her perplexed feelings about her future. People remember her story not only because the article but also her photo.

Another reason for this photo to be long-lived in people’s mind is because of its simplicity in appearance but complex in meaning. When it comes to visual design, it is better to make it simple. Some people will tend to put everything together by trying to make it colourful and idea-explicit. Yet readers will only be distracted and lose their attention.

Do you find this website interesting?
Source: http://havenworks.com

No doubt that a picture can give us more room to think and imagine. For example, when we read a fiction, we will picturise the story in our minds. We may need a thousand words, or more, to describe just one picture. We may not remember every word we heard in our lives, no matter they are encouraging or disappointing. However, those moments will become memories and stay inside our minds and live with us. An example is I went karaoke box with friends lots of time. There is one frequently asked request by my friends. They always forget the name of the songs they want to sing. Thus they will just say, for example, "i want to sing the song that the MTV has a boy, a girl and a yacht. Please search for me." Ha Ha. Images are really easier to remember.

Source: http://weheartit.com/tag/msn

A very simple test. Close your eyes and think of the one you love. What come up to you mind? Is it her lovely face, saying I love you? Or the msn screen when she typed I love you?

My digital life

I think everyone will agree that there has been an evolutionary change in the forms of media especially in the past 20 years. From printed media, to electronic media and today’s internet media, we are really living in an era of advanced technologies.

The advancement of digital media and communication technologies in the past 2 decades really has given me more alternatives to stay in contact with friends and lots of easier and handy ways to search for information.

Back in the old days, the first thing we did after we got up was to turn on the television for news channel or pickup the newspaper to read the news. Unless you have a pager, we have to be around the phone so that we wouldn’t miss any “important” calls.

Now, I can read newspapers, send emails, make phone calls, send text messages and search the internet with just my iPhone. In office, I have an email account while some colleagues even have a Blackberry so that they can check their emails every minute (or every second). We no longer need to go to the library if we need to search for books or information. We just need to google then we can find whatever we need online. We can even have a date online.

But, where is the human touch that we used to have? It’s pathetic to hear that there are people who will only TYPE “I love you” online instead of saying it out to the one they love. It’s pathetic to hear that my friend’s husband sent her an email asking what she wanted to have for dinner while both of them were sitting side by side in their study room surfing the internet. It’s pathetic to hear my boyfriend telling me that we don't need to see or call each other as we can msn.

The internet meant to bring people closer. Yet what about those who are already around but we just take them for granted? Are we really touching the person or just our own computers?

In the movie “He’s just not that into you”, Drew Berrymore said “Things have changed. People don’t meet each other organically anymore. If I would like to make myself seem more attractive to the opposite sex, I don’t go and get a new haircut, I update my profile.” I think this quote has pretty much concluded how this new era has changed our lives.

I hope this course may help me to change my love and loath feelings to this new era. I do agree with Drew that it’s exhausting to go around checking different portals just to get rejected by them. I hope that by the end of this course, I could find ways to appreciate these new almighty technologies.



p.s. I meant to attach the full version of this scene (just 1:22 long, link attached below). It's available on youtube yet cannot be found via the youtube link on blogger. Cheers! To the Almighty Internet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhOScZ92Jc0