Thai + Japanese = ?

The clip above shows communication between a Japanese and a Thai. Due to the thai cultures and the way of pronouncing words, the Japanese lady is having a rather tough time teaching her (the Thai lady) certain Japanese words.

Culture affects the way we communicate.The world is shrinking daily. We cannot afford to ignore people from other cultures. However, communication can sometimes becomes more difficult when people do not share the same attitudes, beliefs and values. Through our language habits, people from different language communities may perceive the world differently.

Barriers of intercultural communication includes attitudes such as prejudice, ethnocentrism and a refusal to acknowledge differences. Human nature is highly susceptical to social and cultural differences. Thus getting people of different cultures to change theire view/mindset about something may not seem as easy as it may sound.

Intercultural communication widens our field of choices and stimulates out imagination. It also allows the development of an intercultural identity, a sense of belonging.

 Being comfortable with the diversity may not be easy for some people. However, to be able to communicate effectively, we should try to be ‘open’, and see the world from different perspective. This means being aware of other cultural conventions and familarizing oneself with basic values and customs. One should also have some basic knowledge of cultural issues or by challenging stereotypes etc.