Communication as a Two-Way Street

By Heather Chetwynd

Many of us know the English idiom, “It takes two to tango.” This saying applies very much to communication between native and non-native language speakers – especially in a multicultural, immigration-rich society like Canada.

It is common for non-native English-speakers to feel that any misunderstanding is due to their errors with English. This perception often drains confidence. Most people tend to feel that it is the non-native speaker who needs improve his or her communication skills, and that the native-speaker doesn’t need to do much.

Yet, this is hardly a unidirectional process: oftentimes, native English-speakers overlook what they can do to clarify their oral communication. Here are four ways that native-speakers can help their non-native conversation partner understand their speech:

 Speak more slowly
 Enunciate more clearly
 Use less idioms and phrasal verbs (turn into, turn on)
 Verify that you have been understood

Speaking slowly and clearly is a matter of attention and just needs a bit of practice. Monitoring the terms and expressions you use is a little more difficult. After all, in everyday speech, native-speakers take various conventions and idioms for granted. When speaking with fellow native-speakers, this is okay, because most native-speakers understand the contextual meaning right away. But non-native speakers often miss idioms and confuse phrasal verbs.

There is a famous story of a police officer who, after attending to a young man who fainted on the street, informs the mother, saying, “I’m afraid your son has passed away.” I imagine the mother would not have thought to clarify whether he had intended to say “passed out” instead!

In the end, take the time to verify that your conversation partner has understood you and clarify any confusing information. In this way, you can prevent many potential misunderstandings. Many non-native speakers are reluctant to ask, afraid that they will be judged as incompetent or face an annoyed reaction. Help them by taking the initiative yourself and showing your willingness to make sure they understand everything clearly.

Heather Chetwynd is the director of Voice to Word Consulting, a Toronto-based company dedicated to helping non-native English-speakers improve their communication skills. For more information, you can contact Heather at: 416-535-VtoW (8869) and http://www.VoiceToWord.ca

WORD UP – announcements

HST = Opportunity

Voice to Word Consulting has decided to cover the additional 8% tax (included in the new HST) on all services purchased between July 1 and December 31, 2010.

On July 1 the Ontario government will introduce Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) legislation on goods and services. The new law combines the 5% Goods and Services tax (GST) with the 8% Provincial Sales tax (PST) to create a 13% HST. The additional tax will now be charged on all educational services, increasing the final cost by 8%.

This is a hard blow to those who make the sacrifice to pay for their studies. Given this sharp increase and with the realization that private students are generally unable to claim tax rebates, Voice to Word has decided to absorb the 8% sales tax for non-corporate clients from July 1st to December 31st, 2010.

“The harmonized sales tax really weighs on individuals who want to upgrade their skills but can’t claim the tax. In order to support our students, it is important that we adjust our cost structure accordingly during the transition,” said Heather Chetwynd, the director of Voice to Word. “Covering the eight percent difference, we’re not only helping our valued clients, but we’re also creating an ideal time during which to study.”

JOKE OF THE MONTH: ‘A Canadian Breakfast?’

A guy walks into a bar. He’s relatively new to Canada and he likes beer. So, he orders his favourite imported beer. As he finishes his beer, he asks the bartender a question.

“Next time I visit your bar,” says the new Canadian, “I’d like to order a Canadian beer. What is the most popular beer here?”

The bartender smiles knowingly and, with a sweep of his hand, gestures to all of the domestic-brand bottles on the shelf behind him.

“Well, my new Canadian friend,” says the bartender, “we have many fine beers in this land. But, if you ask me, the favourite one in this establishment is one called Molson Export.”

The new Canadian smiles, looking curious.

“Maybe I’ll have one now,” he asks the bartender. “One Molson Export.”

As he finishes his Export, the bartender leans over to him.

“You know, fella, here in Canada, we just call it an ‘Ex.’ As in, ‘I’ll have an Ex.’”

So the following day, the same new Canadian walks into a different bar, this time with his girlfriend. They sit down and wait for the waiter.

“We’ll have two Ex, please, with some fries on the side.” he said.

The new Canadians sit at the table for about 15 minutes — still no beer. He waves to the bartender, and he makes a drinking gesture. He’s slightly impatient

“Don’t worry,” the bartender says, looking puzzled, “they’re on their way now.”

Two minutes later, a young woman comes to the new Canadians’ table with a plate full of… food. But, no beer.

“Where is my beer?” he asks.

“What beer?” asks the waitress, as she sets the plate down in front of him.

“My Ex,” says the new Canadian, visibly upset.

“They’re right here,” says the waitress, pointing at the plate. “Your eggs.”

________________________

* This is based on a true story! What’s the confusion? The difference between Ex and Eggs is primarily related to vowel length. We say Ex with a very short E and eggs with a drawn out E.

JOKE OF THE MONTH: ‘Yogic divers?’

So, a woman walks into a yoga studio to ask about their classes.

She sees a class in progress and asks the administrator who it was for.

The administrator smiles confidently, and answers:

“It’s a divers’ group.”

The woman is confused.

“Divers?” she asks. She also wonders how many divers there could be in the town? And why would divers be so interested in yoga?

“Why divers?” she asks.

“Because this class is for anyone,” she says. “We have specialized classes for specific groups — but this one is divers.”

That’s when the woman catches on, and realizes the misunderstanding.

“Oh,” she thinks to herself. “A diverse group. Of course!”

LINKING UP: websites of interest

‘Sounding English’
This is a great link. Although it’s American, the pronunciation is close enough to Canadian to make it very useful. The cross-section diagram of each mouth sound will help you visualize the ‘mouth gymnastics’ required for each sound. There are also videos to accompany the diagrams: they demonstrate various mouth sounds with head-on and side-view camera angles.

‘Voice Guy’
This is an ideal resource for voice warm-ups. This site looks at what goes into making different sounds. The webmaster, Eric Armstrong, is a York University professor with the theatre department. He focuses on helping students do voice warm-ups, such as how to relax muscles and lower breath. There are video and audio exercises to guide you through.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

All of us at Voice to Word Consulting want to wish our friends and colleagues of the Chinese community a Happy New Year on February 12. Since this is the Year of the Tiger – and since ‘winning’ is one of the tiger’s mottos – may your 2010 be full of good fortune and success!

Yours sincerely,

Heather

(Heather Chetwynd, Director)

& the Voice to Word team

Cross-cultural Communications 101

‘Canadians can be so direct. Sometimes, it seems rude.’

Being direct in Canada is generally expected.

We have a culture that is very heterogeneous, meaning the people come from many different backgrounds. Therefore, we can’t assume that we will be understood unless we make things very clear. We don’t have a developed common culture which allows us all easily interpret where the other person is coming from.*

We are also an individualistic culture, meaning we value individual success. Within this context, it is important that our individual ideas, feelings and perspective are expressed and understood.

Sometimes being direct appears rude.

Do you ever feel this way? Are you from a homogeneous culture, where most people come from a similar background?

In these cultures, people generally have a developed understanding of expectations and speak more indirectly. Often these cultures are collectivist and value group harmony, i.e., the well-being of the collective is more important than individual thoughts and feelings.

Sometimes a Canadian seems to be rude, even to a native-born Canadian.  And that’s because, sometimes they are!

________________________

* This is an idiom (to know where someone is coming from) which means to understand why someone is doing or saying something because you understand the background or experience of the person speaking.

EXPLAINER

Stress is good for you

How did the woman in this month’s joke end up with a can of cat food? (see right-hand column)

Well, you see, it was all a matter of stress.

In this month’s TIPS section, we touched on the importance of learning which words to stress in a sentence.

Let’s take a look at those two compound nouns: “cut fruit” and “cat food.”

How are they different?

1. Different vowels:

cat – æ vowel (black)
cut – л vowel (mustard)

2. Different stress:
∕ ∕
cut fruit
∕
cat food

3. Vowel length:

fruit – short
food – long

But, hey, don’t get stressed.

Just have fun listening to people around you — and learn which words should be stressed.

TIPS – Speaking Clearly

Things You Can Do On Your Own:

• Speak more slowly.
This is the best way to clarify your speech. Often, this simple change will greatly help people to follow what you are saying. It gives them time to process what they hear. And you also have more time to make the sounds clearly.

• Open and move your mouth while speaking.
If you watch yourself in a mirror, it should look comfortable, even though it may feel uncomfortable until you are used to it.

• Learn how to pronounce the individual sounds; make sure you pronounce the endings of words.
Although native speakers may drop endings, there are subtle ways in which we make the sounds understood. It is usually easiest for non-native speakers to clearly make all the sounds that are normally pronounced. You can use an online audio dictionary and pronunciation guide as a reference.

• Watch stress and intonation.
Make sure that you learn correct syllable stress, and practice exaggerating it. Also, learn which words we stress in sentences: generally, all nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Intonation also carries a lot of meaning. Try to copy people in order to internalize common intonation patterns. Watch out for “up-talk”: many people raise their voice at the end of every sentence. This is a new speech pattern becoming common in Canada. However, it doesn’t sound very professional.

• Watch people’s faces to see if they understand; or you can ask if they understand what you’ve said.
You may need to repeat what you said, or even change some vocabulary, in order for the meaning to be clear. If the person is looking at you when you speak, it will be easier to understand you.

JOKE: Cat Salad?

Cat salad?

So, a woman walks into a grocery store to pick up food for a dinner party. She’s running late, and has to get home to start cooking. She’s stressed. Fortunately, she finds everything on her shopping list in short order.

Well, almost everything.

She wants to make fruit salad for dessert. But, will she have time to make it?

Then she remembers: some stores sell pre-prepared fruit.

So, she approaches a store employee in the produce section.

“Do you have any cut fruit?” she asks.

The employee scratches his head, squints and stares.

“Well, sure, ma’am,” he says. “Follow me.”

He leads her across the store, out of the produce section, and over to the pet food aisle.

“Here you are, ma’am,” he says, handing her a can. “Cat food.”