Cultural intelligence is an essential step towards achieving cultural competence, especially for those living and working abroad. Developing intercultural skills can enhance your life and career success in a foreign country. By acquiring cultural intelligence, you can better cope with the initial disorientation that often accompanies moving to a new place. This involves learning some of the “rules” of your host country before you even leave home.
Before transitioning smoothly from cultural awareness to cultural knowledge, analyze your relationship with your own culture. Knowing more about the culture you come from helps you discover related knowledge about your new culture. This forms the foundation for acquiring necessary cultural intelligence. You may start with some clichés and stereotypes about other countries and cultures. While these are not examples of cultural intelligence, they can serve as simple, memorable starting points.
Reflecting on your own culture and gathering information on a new one helps you understand where such stereotypes originate. It also allows you to replace them with true cultural intelligence.
To develop cultural intelligence, consider these useful steps:
Start Taking Language Classes: Language skills, while not as powerful as non-verbal communication, are beneficial. They help you communicate in everyday life, access factual knowledge, and address misunderstandings effectively.
Meet Other Expats: Connect with expats who have lived in your host country. Ask them for “best practice” tips to navigate your new environment.
Immerse Yourself in Local Culture: Engage with your new country’s rituals and products. Read travel guides on local traditions, cook new recipes, or explore contemporary pop culture.
Conduct Online Research: Buy books on expat living that explain hard facts, such as history and politics, and offer concrete advice on everyday situations, such as table manners and business etiquette.
Take Cultural Intelligence Seminars: Be cautious when choosing seminars, as qualifications for intercultural trainers can vary. Always ask for references to ensure the quality of the training.
Remember, even those who are interculturally effective can behave awkwardly at times, especially initially. Your chances of success increase as your cultural knowledge grows. Acquiring practical intercultural skills is the most challenging part of cross-cultural learning. It involves more than just choosing between a bow and a handshake. It means being able to analyze and correct misunderstandings, or better yet, avoid them altogether. Good seminars provide opportunities to practice skills in role-play situations, but the real learning happens continuously through experience abroad.
Source: InterNations
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