Questions tagged [cross-culture]
For situations in which at least two of the involved parties come from different cultural backgrounds.
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Is there a way in the European culture to consistently refuse to do small but annoying favors to coworkers and friends without alienating them?
I have recently relocated from my home country, Japan, to Europe to work here for a while in an international team, and I am experiencing a big cultural problem about interacting with Europeans. The ...
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What to do if my name means something inappropriate in another person's language?
My first name is relatively common and normal for a country A where I'm from. Currently I live in a different country (B) and recently started working with a lot of people from some other country C.
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How to address a Chinese co-worker?
Question similar to How to address a Korean co-worker?
When interacting in direct chat messages in English with co-workers (software developers like me) from Chinese offices ; is it rude to address ...
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1
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How to address a Korean co-worker?
My current employer is a global software company with offices in several continents. The company tries to maintain a culture of conviviality.
Our main communication medium is text chat in English ; ...
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How to respond to a particular aspect of Indian culture?
In my line of work, I spend lots of time meeting people from various companies. Often, especially when the companies are tech companies, my counterpart will be Indian. One useful skill in working with ...
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6
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3
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How to deal with non-answers to simple, direct questions, from people doing their job
Background
I've read this question and this other one. My question is about a different situation, because it's the other party's paid job to answer customer questions.
Examples (over email/text)
Me: ...
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2
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How can I explain to my partner that the relationship with parents depends on cultural expectations?
Me and my wife come from different countries with very different social norms and expectations (Russia and Spain). We live in Germany and handle the differences between us rather successfully as we ...
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Pointing the index fingers to one another as a way to excuse oneself: is this a common gesture?
I grew up in Italy, and there is a gesture I use that I'm wondering whether is strictly Italian or is used/understood elsewhere.
It means either of:
"I know this may bother you, but I'd really ...
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2
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Who pays for the date?
I am from northern Europe, but currently live in China. I was going to be a speaker at this social event at a cafe. I asked a Taiwanese woman if she would like to join me to the event (just me and her)...
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Dutch dating etiquette
Since I am Japanese, English may be strange.
Please ask if you do not understand the meaning.
A while ago (in Japan), I met a very nice woman at a bar, for the first time in my life, I took courage ...
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5
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1
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Having been highly praised for my professionalism, am I expected to return the praise?
At work we have a tool, which you can use to send coworkers an appreciation, basically sending them a message that expresses what you appreciate and a text field to enter a message why you send this ...
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How to reply to small talk/random facts in a non-offensive way?
I've discovered that when I have a conversation with someone, I sometimes answer in a somehow offensive way.
For example:
Person: I just read that actor is born in town X.
Me: So what? You're ...
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2
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How can I convince my girlfriend that relationship and her doctorate is possible?
Background
I have been dating a Japanese woman in Japan for two months now. Until now we've regularly met each other on weekends and were talking during the week, mostly with instant messaging. I ...
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3
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How can I politely point out to a non-native English speaker that they have used the wrong word?
I do a lot of communication through text, often with people who are not native speakers of English. Spelling and grammar mistakes can be quite common when speaking a non-native language and when I see ...
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6
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1
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What cultural hints to be aware of when Jewish friends are staying at our place?
Note: I considered asking this at Mi Yodeya but it is really about how to deal with people and culture, more than about Judaism as a religion.
We will have Jewish friends (from the US) staying at our ...
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