“I dread calling
the London team.”
When I asked my
client, Pilar, why she does, these are some of the reasons she gave me:
★ “They all speak so fast.”
★ “ James’s accent is so hard to understand. I think
he’s from Manchester.”
★ “Simone uses typical British expressions/idioms I’m
not familiar with.”
★ “I don’t always catch all the words they’re saying.”
★ “They sometimes use sentences I just don’t
understand.”
And the worst bit.
“Every time I
apologise and ask them to repeat what they’ve said, they repeat it in EXACTLY
the same way!”
So what does she
do?
Feeling dejected,
she asks them to send her an email to confirm what’s been said.
And she tells
herself:
★ If only she knew more vocabulary, she wouldn’t have
this problem every single time.
★ That if she mastered English grammar, it would be so
much easier to follow the conversations.
★ That she really needs to learn more idiomatic
expressions or phrasal verbs.
★ She has to improve her listening skills to understand
British English.
★ She’s never going to get that promotion if she
continues having problems on the phone with the London team.
In other words,
she blames her ‘bad’ English for her inability to communicate
with her British colleagues.
Breaking news: “Better grammar and more vocabulary aren’t going to
solve her problems with her London team. Learning how to communicate with
them is.”
Communication is a two-way
street.
First of all, she
needs to understand this crucial message.
Communication is a two-way street.
Both sides have a responsibility to understand the other
person and to be understood by the other person.
This means you (the
international speaker) AND your British/American colleague (the monolingual
English speaker):
★ Listening carefully.
★ Speaking clearly.
★ Adapting your language to your audience.
★ Speaking at a slower pace.
Let’s take a look at what
Pilar (and you) have done and do to fulfill your responsibility.
★ You’ve enrolled in English conversation classes to
improve your fluency.
★ You regularly practise your listening skills by
listening to podcasts.
★ You’ve faithfully completed those English grammar
worksheets.
★ You’ve signed up to a number of online courses that
promise to get you speaking like a native speaker.
★ You’ve read umpteen books or articles in English to
improve your vocabulary.
★ You try hard to speak slowly and clearly so that your
colleague understands you.
And yet…
Despite all your
valiant efforts, you still find it so hard to understand your British or
American colleague. And they struggle to understand you too.
Why?
Thing is…You’re
only one side of the coin.
You need to look
at the other side of the coin to see what they have done or
are doing to fulfil their responsibility to communicate with you.
Here’s what happens when your
typical British (or American) speaker communicates with you (the international
speaker).
★ They forget who they’re speaking to.>> In other
words, that you’re an international speaker of English with a different level
of proficiency.
★ They don’t adjust their accent to make themselves
clear.>> I am not suggesting people eradicate their accent, but if you
know that your audience is not familiar with your accent, you need to soften it
to ensure they understand you until they get used to it.
★ They don’t adapt their language to International
English. >>They use colloquial, culture-specific expressions that no one
outside of the UK (or USA) would understand or be expected to understand.
★ They sometimes overcomplicate the language they’re
using: “ Should you happen to see him, would you mind letting him know
that I’m expecting him to call me soon as.” (unnecessarily complex
grammar structure)
★ They speak too fast often leaving no ‘white space’,
in other words, pauses to check you’re following the conversation.>> Or
worse still, they mumble making it hard for you to understand what they’re
saying.
★ They’re so focused on speaking, they forget to
communicate.
They’re not
fulfilling their side of the bargain.
And yet, they
don’t think they’re part of the problem.
In her latest
book*, Chia Suan Chong observes that: “English-speaking monolinguals
sometimes get offended by the suggestion that they could be
the problem in a situation of international communication.”
This is further
demonstrated by a client who, when in a meeting with a British supplier, told
me: “It was hard for me to understand his pronunciation and, which is
worse, I am afraid this irritated him.”
It’s YOUR fault.
★ It’s so much easier to allow you, the
international speaker, to take all the blame for not
understanding your British colleague.
★ It’s so much easier to allow you to feel
bad about your English and to put the responsibility solely on you to
make yourself understood.
Well…it’s time to fight back!
It’s time to
remind your British/American colleague that speaking fluently doesn’t mean
they’re communicating effectively.
It’s time to face
the monolingual English speaker with courage and confidence.
Confident in the
belief that you have all the tools in your toolbox to deal with any
communication issues you may have with them.
Tools that
have nothing to do with perfect grammar or sophisticated
vocabulary.
Let’s explore
these tools.
Here’s how you can get your
British/American colleague to slow down without apologising for your ‘bad’
English.
Before the call.
★ Plan your call >> think of what information you
need to share >> what information you need from them >> try and
anticipate what their response is likely to be >> if you’ve had previous
email correspondence with them, have the text ready in front of you.
>>The chances are they’ll use the same expressions on the phone.
★ If you already have some idea of what you’re planning
to discuss, make a note of the important words and phrases you are likely to
hear or say. >> this will help you identify them more easily during the
conversation. >> This will give you the reassurance you need should you
mishear a word or phrase.
★ Record the call >> if you can, record your call
on your smartphone. >> This will allow you to re-listen to the
conversation, re-play any issues and reflect on what to do differently next
time.
During the call.
★ If, in the middle of the conversation, your colleague
starts reeling off a set of numbers (like telephone numbers or sales figures)
or an email address, tell them you’re going to write the information down.
>> “That’s great. I’m just going to write this information down.
Please give me a second to get pen and paper. Ok, I’m ready.” >>
This will automatically make them slow the pace down.
★ As you write the details down, tell them you’re going
to repeat it back to them for confirmation>> “Ok, so that I am clear, Simon’s email address is ……”>> Once again this makes them slow down and
listen to you.
★ Don’t be afraid to ask them to slow down but don’t
apologise>> “I’m afraid
you’re going too fast. Can you repeat that last sentence and this time I’ll
make a note of it?”
★ Blame it on a bad line >> I’m afraid I didn’t catch that. It’s a bad line. You said that …… Is that
correct? >> You’re passing
the responsibility to them to listen and confirm.
★ If they use an expression you’ve not heard before,
tell/ask them >> “What
do you mean?” or “I’m not familiar with that expression.”>> You’re not apologising, but you’re inviting
them to say it another way. >> Remember you’re not expected to understand
every colloquialism or cultural reference.
★ If you’re not sure you heard correctly, check it with
them >> Was that forty (four oh)
or fourteen (one four)?
★ If they don’t understand something you’ve said, give
them an example or say it another way. >> Again don’t apologise for your
English or your accent >> they need to get used to how you speak
too.
★ Some people are naturally fast talkers and often find
it hard to slow down and stay slowed down >> If that’s
the case, keep reminding them to slow down and don’t apologise. >> You
need to help them be aware of this.
The more you’re
aware of what’s happening during those conversations, the easier it’ll be to
adapt to them.
Awareness comes
with reflection.
After the call, take a few minutes to reflect.
★ If you recorded the call, play it back and listen to
the conversation.
★ What were the positives? >> What did you
understand? >> Why did you understand? >> Was it because they
slowed down, they spoke clearly and so on.
★How comfortable were you using one of your tools?
★ How did they respond when you used one of your tools
in your toolbox? >>Did you find them slowing down? >> How did it
make you feel? >> Did the dynamics of the conversation change for the
better?
In today’s global
business world where English is the common language of commerce, we all have an
interest in facilitating good, effective communication between ourselves.
International
communication in English goes beyond perfect grammar, complex vocabulary,
academically-correct spoken English and accent-free pronunciation.
We, monolingual
English speakers AND international speakers of English, have a responsibility
to ensure that both sides help each other communicate successfully.
Never forget.
Successful
communication is a two-way street.