It is generally acknowledged that successful speakers and writers have a way of reaching their audience that makes them successful, or better than others who would claim to be good communicators. After all, what is the secret of being a good communicator? It’s getting your message across to an audience in a convincing and/or interesting […]
intercultural communication
Politeness & the English language
How polite are you? Ways of being polite are often expressed through language. However, different cultures and languages have different ways of doing this. In the English language, and particularly in an Australian context, the words ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ are extremely important. One often hears parents encouraging young children to say please and thank […]
Everyone speaks English, don’t they?
Well…….no, actually, they don’t. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking this way, simply because as we travel the world, a lot of people from other countries seem to speak English, at least enough to get by with tourists. The truth is that many people speak only their own local language or languages […]