Errors can occur in the communication process, especially when trying to communicate across cultures. There can be simple misunderstandings that can lead to simple solutions and there are simple misunderstandings that can lead to grave results (Moran and Moran, 2011, pg. 48). In 1999, I’d traveled in and around Latin America and the Caribbean on various efforts to remediate program code in various accounting offices for a major logistics provider. The accounting programs were written in various types of program languages with syntax written in different languages. Overall I think the multilingual, multi-country project incorporated over 25 different languages or variations, 20 different programming languages and almost 40 countries. Let’s just say that the practical guidelines that (Moran and Moran, 2011, pg. 47) propose to follow for more effective intercultural communication were challenged on a daily basis. As discussed in the opening paragraph, the simple error in translation highlights that “communication does not necessarily mean understanding” and the story behind it will prove that as cultural variables and differences increase the number of communication understandings also increase (Moran et al, 2011, pg. 48).
Speaking Spanish wasn’t easy. As a kid I took five years of French and used it about once a year when I flew to Montreal to play hockey; but living in South Florida and working in Miami I was encultured by the Latino community and forced myself to learn how to speak various dialects and variants with phonetic and grammar differences. This helped certainly when immersed in a foreign South American country for the first time meeting a 65 year old programmer that had used a version of code that we typically learn as seniors in high school to help maintain the shipping manifesto and customer data for billing verification.
While the challenges were many, I am reminded of a particular cultural gaffe that happened to me in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The accounting office in Argentina was in a terribly poor area outside Buenos Aires and you typically didn’t leave the gated compound during the day unless it was to the 2 hour lunch accompanied by your peers and bodyguard and so we became very close. I would travel there for a few weeks at a time and work through the challenges of translating the code to see if we needed to remediate it for Y2K compliance and our days were long and boring and so we’d typically break out at 2PM and have tea or what the locals called Mate (pronounced Mah-te it was a caffeinated beverage made from the yerba mate plant). Well this wasn’t any tea break it was a ritual social gathering where we would all exchange stories and take a break from the day. Mate is typically enjoyed in a social setting and one person prepares the drink and it is served in a gourd like container with a metal straw from which each person around the social group takes a sip and passes it on. What I witnessed the few times before I engaged was each person took a sip on the first round and talked about what was on their mind and as it went around the circle more and more discussion resulted from the social and the polite listening turned active listening (Moran et al, 2011). By sharing meaning while being engaged in this social atmosphere created great communication and helped break down the gaps, whatever they may have been. After witnessing this for a few days I asked politely if I could engage and they complied; and after checking online various times that night to confirm what Mate was and how to drink it I was all prepared for the next day.
I really didn’t know what to say when the Mate was given to me and when I took a sip (I was third in the circle) I realized that it was hot, like wicked hot! So, without prevail I thought I would announce to the audience that it was hot! So, being the cultured guy I was, I proceeded to say in my perfect Spanish, “Estoy caliente!” Well, what I didn’t realize is that in Uruguay and Argentina that meant “I’m horny”.
And as I passed the Mate to the next person who was a female (around my age at the time) she blushed, said something in Spanish too fast for me to understand and everyone started laughing. I’m not talking about just smirking and ha ha. It was pure belly laughing. Finally, when the group calmed down the girl next to me spoke to me (in English) and told me what happened and what I should have said in Spanish was “Hace Calor” or “It’s hot”. Well you can imagine how red my face was when I found out what I really said and when I asked her what she said that had the group in stitches she told me that she had told everyone it was because of her and not the tea!
To make a long story short the story became folklore and every time that I visited the folks in Argentina over the next few years I was always known as the “hot” guy and in fact it was a great ice breaker when meeting new folks in the project as the story made it’s rounds. Things get lost in translation all the time and the interesting part of the communication breakdown is that it could have gone in a different direction but because I was trying hard to learn the culture and how to communicate the team welcomed me and looked past my lingual shortcomings. The “team” was a good bunch of people and they looked past my erroneous interpretation because I was conveying to them that I was trying to part of their team.
Communication Process, Figure 4.1 (based on Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2013, p. 234). and adapted & reprinted from PSU (2014) OLEAD 497B: Lesson 4 Global Communication
Pennsylvania State University. (2014). OLEAD 497B: Lesson 4 Global Communication. Retrieved at: https://cms.psu.edu
Moran, R. T., Harris,P. R., Moran, S.V. (2011) Managing Cultural Differences Leadership Skills and Strategies for Working in a Global World. Oxford: Routledge
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