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Travel the world! Meet new people! Experience different languages, cultures, cuisines!  Sounds idyllic, alluring.  And while many of us travel occasionally, it is quite different when you become an expat. Being an expat is more complicated. There is more paperwork, time and legal requirements. But lest that scare you away from becoming one, never fear! The rewards far outweigh the “risks” especially if you follow the tips below. First, Do Your Homework Want to have an easier

When I first saw my new GP’s examining room, I gasped in grateful surprise.  Unlike my previous doctor’s office, this one looked clean and new, with freshly painted walls decorated with pleasant artwork.  If you live in the US, this may sound standard to you, and that’s exactly my problem; although France is known for its excellent medical care, the combination of French pragmatism and a lower budget means that doctors’ offices are often hygienic but unwelcoming environments.

There is little doubt: we don’t slide into this world as beings capable of conversation.  We make lots of sound but no words until we learn the words to say and how to say them. Initiated by linguist Noam Chomsky in the 1960’s, science has purported our language development comes from instinct.  His initial theory suggested we have a hypothetical “language acquisition device” stored in our brains. Like alien pods from the War of the Worlds, its spontaneous activation lies in

The holidays are almost here, and the phrase “Merry Christmas!” – or “Happy Christmas!” if you live in the UK – is in the air.  I’ve always taken it for granted that these were how the greeting went in each place. But this year, I started to wonder exactly why.  What’s the difference between “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Christmas”?  I thought my research into this would be brief, but it turns out that the word “merry” has a side you may not know about…. It’s a phenomenon that

We all have friends or family members who seem just impossible to shop for.  I can’t give you gift ideas for all of them, unfortunately. But there is one category of people I might be able to help you with: language lovers and linguists. If you know someone who’s fascinated by words, who ponders the history of English, who relishes breaking down word roots and diagramming sentences, here are some gifts that may be right up their alley: – Crossword puzzles. The language-lover

Do we have a built-in linguistic instruction manual? For decades, linguists have been debating, well, a lot of things.  But one major issue is whether humans’ ability to construct and understand a language is inherent, or whether languages have evolved based on observation, imitation, and trial and error.  In other words, are we born with an innate knowledge of grammar and other linguistic elements, or do we acquire this knowledge by observation, imitation, and need? The inhe

Nine out of ten journalists say that statistics are an important part of their research and reporting.  Okay, I made that up, but it seems like the truth.  Statistics are little bits of information that easily illustrate the scope of something. They also feel reliable. Maybe that’s because you can check who conducted a study or gave a poll, or maybe it’s because they’re expressed in numbers, which always seem sort of stable and less prone to trickiness than words. But, as thi

Do you read things even though you know they’ll make you angry?  I do sometimes, and apparently I’m not alone; a word has recently been coined for the phenomenon: “hate-reading”. The other day, I saw an article entitled Calling an Ordinary Health Problem a Disease Leads to Bigger Problems, and decided to do a little hate-reading. I’ve written about how life-changing it was for me as a teenager to learn that my strange digestive problems had a name – IBS — and, with it, suppor

With the new realities of global interconnectedness comes a greater awareness of cultural diversity from place to place. Besides differences in food and fashion, we face significant contrasts of cultural orientation and patterns of thinking. As we travel across cultures, what should we expect? How do we deal with culture shock? And can we truly connect with those we meet? Experienced cross-cultural specialist Duane Elmer provides a compass for navigating through different cul

The bestselling guide to cross-cultural leadership Since its original publication, Riding the Waves of Culture has been considered the definitive guide to one of the 21st century’s most pressing management concerns—effectively leading people and organizations in an increasingly global business environment. Today’s business landscape is barely a shadow of what it was only a few years ago, when managers’ main concerns were being aware of cultural differences and preventing emba

In a recent Huffington Post article, Amelia Friedman writes about the disproportionate number of American students studying western European languages versus languages spoken in other parts of the world.  In addition to often having a greater number of native speakers, these less-studied tongues, especially those spoken in emerging markets, can lead to career opportunities, as well as a chance to improve lives through social advocacy. Sadly, no matter how compelling Friedman’

Go ahead – visit http://www.healthcare.gov and take a look.  Upper right hand corner gives you the español option. Of the 30 million who will now enter the national healthcare system, about 9 million of them do not speak English as a first language. (And these 9 million, may we remind you, are legal immigrants in the United States.)  But not all of them are Spanish speakers.  What happens to those for whom English or Spanish is simply not enough of an option to make access cl

The July 17th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported on some results from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey which examined if antismoking messages on television, radio, billboards, newspapers or magazines are influencing smoker’s plans to quit.  The good news is they are, the more interesting question is are they sending the right message? Over a quarter of a million people in 17 countries participated in the study, over 50,000 of which were smokers (

“The whole visible universe is but a storehouse of images and signs to which the imagination will give a relative place and value; it is a sort of pasture which the imagination must digest and transform.”  ~  Charles Baudelaire How quickly can a different culture effect you?  Does it takes weeks of immersion in another culture before your mind begins to think similarly?  Symbols strongly associated with other cultures surely don’t effect us immediately. Or do they? How much m

All of this may seem strange to some people from other countries. While it is very common to see the American flag flying outside a private home here in the USA every day, it is not the usual custom in all cultures and countries. In some parts of the world the nation’s flag is only displayed by private individuals on special occasions, and citizens only wave their national flag at important events, such as the Olympics or major political or national celebrations. In general,

Angelina Jolie single-handedly brought conversations about breast ovarian cancer to the dinner table this week.  Having had a double mastectomy and a removal of both ovaries to come, here is a woman who surveyed her odds and is choosing to be outspoken and proactive in her fight against cancer. Unfortunately, most women are not Angelina Jolie.  Many, especially minority women, are not proactive and because they don’t speak up, receive inadequate treatments for ovarian cancer.

Creating a Global Brand involves uniquely communicating a powerful message to a variety of audiences across languages, geography, religion and traditions.  With no single language linking us all since the Tower of Babel, the trick, and the duty, is to get the message right. Global Branding is a conscious and ever changing process to reach target audiences.  Language is a key part of any global communication but not all communication is verbal.    As humans, we receive more se

The Second Edition of this popular text brings up-to-date Marieke de Mooij’s important analysis of the impact of culture on consumer behavior worldwide. The author shows how it is increasingly vital for marketing students—tomorrow’s marketing professionals—to understand the limits of consistent brand identities and universal advertising campaigns. Consumer behavior is not converging across countries, and therefore it is of even greater importance to understand, and be able to

As the new Health Care Act moves into place, market research from the patient’s perspective needs to be a focus.  Understanding how patients travel through this new system of healthcare, the decisions they face and how they make them will provide an edge to any brand team wishing to drive uptake. There are many articles touting the advantages of a psychological approach to qualitative market research.  Knowing the thoughts and feelings behind patient decision making creates d

While we believe in the importance of providing culturally relevant information to patients, reaching them in a culturally sensitive way is sometimes easier said than done.  In Western, industrialized societies disease is viewed as a scientific phenomenon treated with interventions based on scientific information.  Other cultures see disease as a spiritual phenomenon that should be treated with spiritual interventions.  Very different approaches.  There are many ways differin