No matter how much cross-cultural training you've had, how open-minded you are, or how flexible you are to others' communication preferences, sometimes you will get tired and just want to be around those "like you."...

Hofstede, the infamous grandfather of cross-cultural studies, said, "Studying culture without experiencing culture shock is like practising swimming without water." I think this guy tried to swim without water....Image Source: Gratisography Usually we think of culture...

When thinking about cross-cultural communication, I bet you don't think "how clean are they?" or "how clean am I?"...and if you do, that's....unusual 😉 BUT concepts of cleanliness can have an impact on communication in...

I've been watching the recent news in India with keen interest. In case you missed it, in November 2016, PM Modi announced all 500 and 1000 denominations would no longer be accepted. This would remove...

When I explain cultural differences, often people see them as communication challenges. I want to turn that concept on its head and suggest we view them as opportunities. For example, if you are from a...

Have you ever looked up a list of cultural rules for going overseas and thought, "isn't this just stereotpying?"  I personally think it's about time these typical "Dos and Don'ts" lists had an update. The...

I recently went on a trip to the UK. It was my first time visiting England and Scotland and I didn't really know what to expect. If anything, I was skeptical as to whether I...

When you travel overseas there is a decent amount of preparation to do. It can include booking flights, passports, visas, injections, packing, learning a bit of the language, researching the culture, knowing what electrical sockets...

So in this whole debate on voluntourism, and some of the negative arguments against it, a question arises - is there a difference between "volunteering" and "voluntourism" in the first place? Isn't it just volunteering...

I recently finished reading this book and found it an inspiration to my own language learning motivation, so thought I would share a quick review on it. The book is based on the memoirs of...