September 2008 - Global View Newsletter

HOSTING INTERNATIONAL VISITORS

If you've ever been to a foreign country - for business or pleasure - where you don't speak the language, you've no doubt felt that lost, uneasy feeling when everyone around you is conversing and you're sitting there with crazy thoughts going through your head. You're wondering what's being said, trying to read the faces and the gestures, never with much luck.  So, you sit there feeling like a toddler in college and all you can do is just smile and nod, smile and nod!
 

 

For anyone hosting international visitors, this is an important feeling to remember. When spending so much time and effort to bring them to your facility, one of the most important things you can do is make them feel comfortable and important, like they belong.  Not lost, not confused, not worried what is being said that they can't understand.
 

Sure, many foreign visitors speak English, or tell you they speak English well, but not all visitors speak at a comfortable level even if they say they do. It is also very different to speak on a conversational level than on a business or technical level.
Additionally, if you are making any binding business deals, it is even that more crucial that your visitors understand you and that you clearly understand them as well.
 

So, next time you host international visitors do yourself and them a favor, contract the services of a professional linguist. This educated, confident, friendly person will be a welcome face at the airport when your guest arrives, be their guiding support throughout the day and help them feel comfortable and included during after hours activities - such as dinner.
 

For many countries and cultures, business comes second to friendship and trust.  We tend to forget that much of the world operates on a very different methodology. American business people tend to be contract oriented, less personal and want progress to move quickly. Unfortunately, these behaviors can seem pushy, arrogant, dishonest and rude.
 

So, if you can start a relationship with international visitors with such a great, open, good-willed gesture, the rest of the work will be much easier.
 

For more information on finding qualified linguists for any function, contact a friendly representative at U.S. Translation Company at 800-595-4648.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. Translation Company: Superior quality Interpretation and Translation Services in over 100 Languages!