Cross-Cultural Communication [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION"- Jó napot, sógor! Mit csinál?" "- Foltosom a csónakot," "- Hát ad öreg mit csinál?" "- Kilukadt a feneke." (Hungárián children's song)Learning about one's own and other cultures or, to put it another way, raising cultural awareness is becoming more important as today people more often meet people from other cultures. A lot of our everyday problems are rooted in differences of this nature, though most of us will not realise it, let alone call it that way. Cultural awareness may spare-you and others uncomfortable and inconvenient situations, and it is vital if your income and status depend on how you can deal with other people.Research into cross-cultural communication is quite recent, and primarily uses questionnaires and interviews in an international context. The conclusions of this empirical research are much less exact than in a science proper since most of what we will call culture is unconscious. Due to having been behind the Iron Curtain, Hungary, along with other former socialist countries, has not been involved in research, and, for reasons unknown, no major study has been prepared about Hungarian culture by Hungarians either.Following the example of most West European institutions that train future business people, the College for Foreign Trade is one of the first Hungarian colleges to include a course in Cross-cultural communication in the curriculum. Experimental as course material, this book tries to present the theoretical and empirical background in a workbook-like format. It is less concerned with teaching (enriching your knowledge) than training (giving you skills which improve your performance). Since English is an international language, 1 believe that you should also gain insight into various cultures of the world, not only that of Great Britain and the United States.vChapter 1 will attempt to define culture, and explore its ingredients. Then, Chapter 2 will handle issues of communication that may affect the interaction of people from different cultures. Since language is a vital part of any culture, Chapter 3 will explore their relationship. Chapter 4 will deal with cross-cultural communication proper-While providing the widely accepted framework for comparing national cultures, it will contain numerous examples and illustrations which range from everyday life to the world of business. You are also expected to assess the Hungarian culture against the dimensions listed: it will be all the more easy (or difficult) since the authors quoted did not include Hungary in their research. At the end of the book, you will find an Appendix, which includes some of the best essays that students wrote during the piloting phase of the material. The views and opinions expressed in them do not necessarily coincide with those of mine.