We live in a world filled with a myriad of languages and cultures. The importance of understanding all aspects of a culture is the fulcrum of international business.
In this article, we will be looking at the importance of understanding a culture and what that requires.
What does culture mean to you?
The Language? The customs of a group? Maybe the cuisine? Or the history? How about the arts and crafts of that particular group and their beliefs?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, culture is the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time.
So culture changes, and thus the people change with it. Or is it the other way around? In any case, culture is dynamic and this has to be taken into account, especially in the current business environment. Many countries that used to be very traditional in their beliefs and customs are now becoming more open and connected to the global world.
So before you book a cultural training course, please make sure that your provider is taking into account the evolution of culture over time! Using dated traditions in modern culture can be looked at in a negative way by the people of that culture.
Factors That Can Dictate the Dynamics of a Culture
- International Business
- Emerging Economies
- Technology (especially the Internet)
- More accessible education
With those in mind, let’s consider the question, Why would you get language and cultural training?
Advantages Of Language and Cultural Training
The main advantage of language and cultural training is that it enables you to understand how other cultures differ from yours. Whether the difference is in the way of thinking, the habits and customs, or purely language barriers – the more you study and understand a culture’s proclivities, the easier it will be to bond with the people from that culture.
Other notable advantages are:
- Being aware of all areas of a culture (eg: Language, customs, history, cuisine, architecture etc.) can give you a great business advantage.
- Cultural Training can help you create new relationships and strengthen the existing ones.
- Language and cultural training can help you avoid unpleasant experiences.
- Once you have mastered their language and cultural etiquette, you will appear you will be perceived as capable and respectful.
- The more languages you learn the easier the learning process gets!
- Cultural training requires a multi-prong approach.
- Because culture is dynamic, the training needs to offer the most ‘updated’ version of that culture.
- Understanding a group’s culture in its entirety leads to closer relationships – both business and personal
We take cultural training seriously, but many of our clients have also complemented our fun and modern approach to learning. If you yearn to learn about other cultures, whether for business or personal reasons, then give us a call on 020 7821 0999 and our multi-lingual account managers will be happy to discuss this with you. Orleave your details here and we will get back to you!