If your introduction to the topic of cultural appropriation was due to a celebrity, such as Pharrell Williams, being slammed for wearing Native American headwear, Zac Effron, being called out for sporting dreadlocks, or Katy Perry, being criticised for performing as a Geisha, then you're not alone.
Accents are an amazing window onto our history. As accents die, so too are accents born in response to changes in our environment.
In ‘The Lost Cockney Voice’ available on podcast via Radio 4 downloads, Cole Moreton talks about the unique cockney accent of his grandmother’s era.
Traditionally one of the more expensive destinations to send expatriate staff, a survey has found that the UK is now becoming cheaper for foreign companies.
The MyExpatriate Market Pay survey (published annually by ECA International) states that for the past few years the fall in the value of UK Sterling has meant that for companies outside the country, operating mainly in USD, sending resources to Britain has become around 11% cheaper.
Can Theresa May's vision of a 'Global Britain' really come true when even the Institute of Translation & Interpreting question if the UK has the language or cultural skills necessary to compete globally?
Once unshackled by the chains of the EU, the future of Britain is being positioned as one of a global trader. However, to be a global trader you need the skills to do so.
Multicultural teams are now the norm within many of our larger companies, organisations and brands.
Challenges relating to communication, trust and morale within culturally diverse teams are common.
India, despite years of efforts by PM Narendra Modi to implement changes to the contrary, remains one of the toughest places on the planet to do business.
A highly-advanced nation in many respects, with an educated English-speaking population, a wealthy middle-class, advances in technology and an international business outlook, many from the outside approach India as easy pickings.
Researchers believe they have finally disovered why the wide, white-teethed smile is so important in American culture - immigrants and cultural diversity.
Across different cultures, a smile can mean many things. In more expressive cultures such as the USA, where showing emotions is not necessarily a bad thing, and in which hierarchy and social differences are less acute, the smile is a lot more common.
Do you work with or travel to Muslim majority countries? Do you know Ramadan is a matter of weeks away?
For 30 days’ life gets flipped upside down for most Muslims – this impacts business.
Some recent news coverage focusing on Theresa May not wearing a headscarf on her business trip to Saudi Arabia has caused some major confusion over etiquette and protocol in the Kingdom.
Certain news outlets and media seemed to use terminology that suggested that the British PM May somehow 'refused' the idea of covering her hair.
“How would you explain your country's culture to someone who isn’t at all familiar with it?”
This was the question posed by OdinText to more than 15,500 people across the globe in the hope of finding some insights into cultural differences or similarities.
Girls dressing as boys is a hidden Afghan cultural tradition; not encouraged, yet, equally not taboo.
Watching an excellent RT documentary last night, I was introduced to the incredible world of the ‘Bacha Posh’ (Persian: بچه پوش, literally "dressed up as a boy").
A warning sign with the silhouette of an Orthodox Jewish man wearing a traditional 'Fedora' hat has been found on a lamp-post in north London amid one of the largest Hasidic communities in Europe.
At a time when the foreigner, the immigrant, the Muslim, the Jew, the Mexican, etc are being constantly vilified by some segments of our media, one should not be surprised by the increasing intolerance towards 'the other'.
Having gone viral across the globe many US and other news outlets described the lady as Professor Kelly’s ‘maid’. Her ethnicity clearly contributed to the rather preconditioned assessment that she was working for Professor Kelly. The fact that this lady, Jung-a Kim may have been Professor Kelly’s wife failed to register.
Research from Deloitte finds that diversity and inclusion in the workplace are now leadership-level issues, central to future growth and security.
Findings from the firm's 2017 Global Human Capital Trends report suggest that diversity has moved away from a predominantly HR-focused, "check box ticking" initiative to one of key strategic importance at CEO-level.
Seriously, who uses the word ‘foreigners’ as a brush reference to the diverse nationalities living in and beyond the borders of the UK? This word surely is a relic? Something from the past?
Sitting on my perch last night in my normal nightly semi-comatose state after a hard day's work in front of the TV, I was aroused from my stupor by the following reaction of Norman Tebbit when discussing the right of EU nationals to remain in the UK post Brexit:
Executing your uncle is not a great move in any culture. When Kim Jung-Un accused his uncle and former second in command of being ‘anti party’ and ‘political scum’, most of our global family – regardless of culture, would likely have considered sacking his uncle (and perhaps imprisonment) as an appropriate outcome.
Having him killed by firing squad though, made even the hardiest of us wince.
Following on from our blog on becoming a trainer, we are very lucky to be able to pick the brains of an experienced cross cultural trainer with solid experience of the intercultural field.
Joyce Jenkins, President of SIETAR UK, offers her insights and advice to three questions about getting started as a trainer or a professional in the cross-cultural field.
I recently penned some musings about the privitization of cultural diversity in a blog post; the central theme being that politics and politicians don't know how to handle the boiling hot potato that is multiculturalism. The result, I predict, will be the private sector championing cultural diversity and multiculturalism with the politicians glady handing responsibility over.
To summarise the blog, I believe the private sector see the failings of politicians to positively engage and counteract the harmful anti-difference agenda as bad for business.
As an international cross cultural training company one of the most frequently asked questions we receive is how individuals can become intercultural trainers.
Unlike with many other professions, there is no simple answer.
One of my colleagues recently caused a rather difficult situation when he unwittingly fell victim to his unconscious bias.
My colleague and I were talking to a client regarding the need for intercultural leadership training for their CEO based in the Middle East.
