Hotspots: Talks

When meeting  people from different cultural backgrounds you surely are interested in talking with them, listening to their stories and sharing their experiences. But also in situations of talking and telling you should think about some potential irritations beforehand. For example:

Welcome Rituals

  • What is the usual style of welcoming each other? Shaking hands? Bowing? Hugging and kissing? Are there different welcome rituals for men and women?
  • You should decide if you use the welcome rituals of your own culture or adapt to the one used in the foreign culture.
  • How are business cards exchanged? For example, in China you have to take the card with both hands and to look at it thoroughly. It is regarded as impolite to put it in one’s pocket immediately.
  • It is useful to keep a certain symmetry in the exchange of welcome words. It might be irritating if you reply to „Good afternoon!“ with „Hi!“
Example (click to open)

Antonia works once a week in a family café for migrants in Germany. Usually mothers with children from various countries attend the weekly meeting. Antonia welcomes the people she already knows with „Hello“, newcomers are welcomed with a handshake. Every week Flavia, a woman from South America drops in. She welcomes Antonia with a hug and cheek kisses, and Antonia does the same because she thinks that Flavia expects it from her. Some afternoon, a woman from Poland asks Antonia if Flavia is a special friend of hers or why she holds that exceptional position in the group.

Topics and Taboos

Cultures can be very diverse with regard to topics that are discussed in public, especially with people you are not very familiar with. For an ice-breaking small talk it is not advisable to touch too personal or delicate issues.

So, before starting a conversion you should keep in mind some aspects (click to open).
  • What are „hot topics“ in the respective culture?
  • Usually in a first conversation topics such as money, sexual relationships, health issues and politically or historically controversial issues are not very welcome and can cause raised eyebrows.
  • The same is true for forthright questions about family status, age or earnings.
  • In some cultures it is normal to accept some minutes of silence in a conversation, in others they are regarded as awkward and uncomfortable.

Summary

Summarising, hotspots are situations where cultural differences emerge. They might cause a difficult atmosphere among the interacting persons when they are not handled in a careful and sensitive way. Hotspots highlight cultural traditions, norms and values and help to review the own expectations.

If you perceive cultural hotspots in an interaction it is advisable not to rush ahead and act immediately but to wait, see and listen first.

Project Partners

Casework is a cooperation between the Innovation in Learning Institute (ILI), the ECC Association for Interdisciplinary Consulting and Education, the INTRGEA Institute for Development of Human Potentials, and Oxfam Italy. More info…