Topic > Some Obstacles in Intercultural Communication

Thanks to the development of modern technology, it has become easier for people from different countries to communicate. In a sense, the world has become a global community. Although the borders between countries become increasingly ambiguous, cultural differences still exist. For me, the assumption of similarities and the tendency to evaluate are the two obstacles that I have strongly recognized. Take customer service for example, the first impression of a new country, what a waiter should do in a restaurant is similar all over the world, but the similarity could also be deceptive. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In Taiwan, people consider customer-oriented strategy as their successful management idea. The restaurant taught waiters to be more humble and submissive. The friendlier and more welcoming they are, the more reputation the restaurant will gain. To be more attractive, they strive to make the customer feel like they are a very important person, for example by providing massage and nail manicure services for free when the customer is waiting for a seat; bow when the waiter has finished ordering or serving meals; squatting while the waiter listens and talks to the customer, and so on. However, when I first traveled to Europe, things completely changed. I took my family to a famous German restaurant. After the waiter recommended the dishes to me, I immediately placed the orders and the others were still hesitant. When the server found out that we weren't completely ready to order, she left with a pig face and said she'd come later. We were amazed by the rude manner and couldn't help but think that it might be racial discrimination. In Taiwan, the waiter not only smiled and spoke softly to customers, but also walked away before asking if we need more time to make a decision or if we can order now. In this case, we felt uncomfortable at first because we were trapped in the similarity bias and forgot to think about a different cultural background. After visiting and observing other restaurants, we found that the cases were so similar that we reinterpreted them as cultural differences. As for the tendency to evaluate, once we have formed a first impression of someone, we tend to look for signs that are consistent and supportive of this impression and ignore inconsistent ones. (Schneider, 1973) I frankly made judgments based on the first impressions of others until my friend's experience reminded me. When my friend first tried to take her international friends to look around, she was angry at their out-of-control, self-centered behavior. Unlike her who plans and controls everything in advance, they prefer to make the decision based on the sensations of the moment. Unlike her who followed direction with others in an unfamiliar place, they prefer to follow their own path. Limited by the inconsistencies between different cultural backgrounds, she felt irritated. After discussing with them against the background of growing up, he understands that if he put himself in their position at the beginning, he would realize that they were taught the concept of being free and unrestrained since they were young. the proverb says: “When you are in Rome, do as the Romans do”. When we travel, we should be cautious to avoid violating their taboos. Likewise, we should also be open-minded towards the differences between.