Businesses Urged To Seek Language Advice Before Embarking On International Trade

December 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Language advice and support for cultural understanding plays an important role in international trade as well as ensuring harmony and safety in multilingual workplaces at home.

For example would you know what to do if you were invited to a braai by your South African clients, how to settle a dispute on the shop floor between migrant workers whose first language was not English or the best way to charm your Japanese partners?

The Regional Language Network (RLN) helps West Midlands’ businesses to break down language and cultural barriers by providing language advice, signposting and access to language services and resources.

If you are unsure what to say or do when visiting other countries or speaking with foreign clients, the RLN has a variety of free downloadable resources to help you learn basic phrases and understand cultural differences.

To enable you to forge strong business relationships and steer clear of cultural misunderstandings, the Regional Language Network provides cultural briefings on a range of countries including France, Brazil, Malaysia, China and Russia. These guides cover business culture, the basics of the language and information on the economy and geography of the country. Cultural matters are often overlooked as businesses focus first on learning the language, but understanding the differences in the local business culture and being able to demonstrate respect to your overseas contacts is just as important as showing off the basic phrases you have learned.

And it’s not only in international markets that problems may arise – cultural differences and language barriers in the workplace can stop your business from functioning effectively. Organisations like the RLN can help you deal with these issues through their language advice and support services.

If you have multilingual or migrant workers it is important to recognise the language barriers and cultural differences that will prevent effective communication. To ensure your workplace runs smoothy you will need to make sure, for example, that health and safety information is presented in the appropriate languages and that workers whose first language is not English or those who cannot understand it very well can access interpreters or mentors to assist them in work-related matters.

Learn more about Language Advice at the RLN West Midlands website

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Businesses Urged To Seek Language Advice Before Embarking On International Trade

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