How many levels of judgment do you experience before you even speak? Starting with a visit to the doctor’s office, Lucky and Deanna share their honest perspectives on daily living in the US, as a Black man and a White woman. Lucky and Deanna will ask each other questions and share personal experiences, and also…
What do you do when your guest loses his internet due to an ice storm at 10:51 am…right before your 11 am Go Live? We learned first hand when an ice storm hit Uranus, MO, knocking out Internet for guest Louie Keen, who was scheduled to go live on Intercultural Spark at 11 am. You…
(this piece originally ran 5/08, but always makes us laugh) I have two words to say. Butt soup. Now that I have your attention… When my son Lucca was 4 we had a problem getting him to stop eating with his hands. “Stop it, Lucca,” I scolded. “Why?” asked Lucca. “Because we don’t eat with…
As someone married to an “Eugenio” (Brazilian Portuguese ay-oh-ZHEN-ee-oh) I was delighted to find the website Hearnames.com, which offers audio pronunciation by native speakers of hundreds of names in 44 language categories. Dale Carnegie taught millions how to Win Friends and Influence People with ideas like “Remember that a person’s name is to that…
In today’s multicultural world (depending on where you live) it is common to engage with people for whom English is not their first language. While sometimes the interaction may be casual, with not much at stake, other times business deals, potential sales or enduring relationships may be at stake. Here are three tips to spoil the…
Remember as a kid trying to read your friends’ minds at a slumber party? For my 10th birthday, it came in between “Truth or Dare” and the Séance. Now flash forward to the future (past “Men Who Stare at Goats“), where new technology potentially could erase communication barriers caused by traditional language differences. The program,…
I’m always leery of certain words that seem out of context when speaking in a language other than my own. So when the word “amor” (love) kept coming up in my conversation in Spanish with the Super Shuttle driver on the way to LaGuardia Airport Sunday night, I finally stopped and said “No comprendo”…I don’t…
Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses.He doesn’t seem to be breathing, and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: “my friend is dead! What can I do?” The operator says: “Calm down, I can help. First, let’s make…
My husband’s a bigger John Wayne fan that me (our pet goldfish is a bigger John Wayne fan than me, but that’s beside the point). He grew up in Brazil watching and loving the old John Wayne movies. “I do love his ‘swagger’ though” I admitted. “You mean his “arrastando pé?” my husband asked, providing…
You probably know one of each. The one who picks up little things here and there over the course of the year, when things are on sale, and is ready for Christmas on December 1, and the one who walks the sales clerk out the door as it closes on December 24. The result is the…
