4 ms·
There was a Japanese client where I use to work that was in a meeting with my coworker. When my coworker would go into detail about how our products work, the J
by Robelius 9y ago
There was a Japanese client where I use to work that was in a meeting with my coworker. When my coworker would go into detail about how our products work, the Japanese client would nod their head up and down while saying Okay in English. My coworker would take pauses during his mini-lecture, asking "Do you understand what it's doing so far?" He would almost always respond with "No."
It was pretty funny watching from the sidelines as my coworker slowly slipped into insanity because of the miscommunication.
Random Edit Note:
Had a class that dealt with Supply Chains in college. We had a section devoted to negotiations, including international. As a result we had to learn about various business cultures.
One of the main points of that section was Western Cultures tend to have their words require little context (Their words are literal) and have focused more on Individualism. Eastern and Latin Cultures tend to have more of a Collectivism and their words rely heavily on the context of the situation (Their words are implicit).
- laurieg 9y agoThis is a really common habit with Japanese speakers of English. In Japanese acknowledging sounds know as aizuchi (相槌) are used far more frequently than in English. One common aizuchi is hai (はい) which is can be translated very literally as 'yes'. Very often I have to tell a Japanese colleague that they need to stop saying "Yes" when someone starts asking a question because they sound like they are answering it. A way to get some insight on how Japanese speakers feel is to imagine this situation: Go into a shop, buy something, hand over your change and walk out without saying a single word. Where I'm from in the UK, not saying 'thank you' would feel very impolite and wrong. Japanese people feel the same when they listen without saying "Yes" or something similar very frequently.
- Cthulhu_ 9y agoWestern cultures do the same thing though, they give nods and other visual cues, go "uh huh", and if they've had a course in active listening, they'll go "I HEAR WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!". (I have a friend who had a colleague who'd do that. Very annoying but it gets the point across).
- infogulch 9y agoI also use "right" and "ok" sometimes, with the right inflection it can signal continued interest, though you have to be careful not to sound impatient. Another technique I find effective in active listening is to periodically rephrase/summarize/"ask for clarification" on the last minute or two. (The last one even when I fully understand the subject.)
- tcfunk 9y agoYeah, my Japanese teacher in college would constantly mutter "hai". She used it almost as a transitional word between thoughts.
- Nomentatus 9y agoNetherlands "Ja", similarly.