"Living in a Foreign Language" presented by Lesley Howe

President Keith Prestidge with presenter Lesley Howe Milton Keynes Grand Union Rotary Club was pleased to welcome Leslie Howe who gave a presentation entitled "Living in a Foreign Language" to a breakfast meeting in April 2005. Leslie identified a gap in the market place and formed a company known as HoweDirect Language and Cultural Training Consultants. The aim is to provide a service to multi-national companies who frequently relocate their senior executives and other staff whose first language is not English. If a person relocates to this country with their family, the cultural differences can come as quite a shock. Many of the day-to-day things that we take for granted can pose real and serious problems for those affected in this way. Leslie has first hand experience of the problems that can be encountered when she worked for 5 years in Holland for a Dutch/German company. She is fully qualified 'English as a Foreign Language' trainer having completed the relevant professional training courses.

Often companies spend many thousands of pounds relocating their staff, but then experience problems when either the individual or their family fail to settle into their adopted country. Many companies fail to realise that their staff will need extra training and make the incorrect assumption that the language and cultural differences will somehow "rub off" on them after they arrive in the country. If this fails to happen, then expatriates stay together both within the company and in their leisure pursuits and hence do not fully integrate with the indigenous staff.

Perhaps it is worth remembering that when we holiday abroad, we can cope with simple tasks like shopping in a supermarket or buying petrol and we may be able to cope with written articles. However, if we are faced with tasks such as using a call-centre, understanding regional accents, comprehending colloquialisms or idiosyncratic phrases it is a different matter and these are the problems faced by those trying to make sense of our environment.

Leslie gave examples of some of the cultural differences that exist. For example, in the Japanese culture it is not rude to slurp or make a noise whilst eating noodles or drinking tea. In Spanish culture it is perfectly normal that during business negotiations, presentations or meetings it is common for the Spanish to interrupt and for people to speak at the same time. This is acceptable and indicates that those present are taking a genuine interest in the proceedings.

The final point that Leslie made was a plea that if you have neighbours from abroad always acknowledge them in the street when you meet and make every effort to communicate. This will be greatly appreciated and will be of tremendous help to them in integrating within their new found community.

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