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Archaic | 1 Apr 2006 01:34
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Re: Cultural differences question(s)

On Thu, Mar 30, 2006 at 05:45:39PM +0100, Richard A Downing FBCS CITP wrote:
> > 
> English, since we invented it.

Hah! English, you say? While I was there I heard mostly Geordie and
cockney, neither of which I would call English. I fact, I needed a
translator for the Geordie! ;)

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Clemens Haupt | 1 Apr 2006 14:02
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Re: Cultural differences question(s)

Am Saturday 01 April 2006 01:34, teilten sie mit:
>On Thu, Mar 30, 2006 at 05:45:39PM +0100, Richard A Downing FBCS CITP wrote:
>> English, since we invented it.
>Hah! English, you say? While I was there I heard mostly Geordie and
>cockney, neither of which I would call English. I fact, I needed a
>translator for the Geordie! ;)
You should have spoken to Mrs. Thatcher the daughter of a grocer! 
Allthough she speaks a lot of  nonsence but her pronounciation is
really nice ;-)
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Brandon Peirce | 3 Apr 2006 23:37
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RE: Cultural differences question(s)

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 04:54:43 -0800 RavenKnight <Raven.Knight <at> Verizon.net> 
wrote:
>
>Hello Everybody,
>    I would like to ask a few questions about cultural differences
...

Before I answer the questions, let me note that they have provoked much 
entertainment,
but probably not much useful stuff for your project... I like to think I
could change that ... but then again, when I was 17 I thought I could change
the world and now I fear that I can't even change myself :-(

>1) What is the predominant language used in business in your country?

Hmmm. Most business discussions begin with a discussion about which language
will be used ... and then ends up being in a mixture anyway! It's 
predominantly
French in the south and Dutch (Flemish) in the north and mostly English for 
international business or when the participants need a neutral language 
because they can't agree between Dutch and French!
However, this is important: any contract is not considered legally binding
unless it's written in the official language of the region (i.e. Dutch in 
the
north, French in the south, Dutch or French in the capital and French or 
German
in the south-east.

>2) How important is it for people to be on-time?
(Continue reading)

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Richard A Downing FBCS CITP | 4 Apr 2006 09:36
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Re: Cultural differences question(s)

Brandon Peirce wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 04:54:43 -0800 RavenKnight
> <Raven.Knight <at> Verizon.net> wrote:
>>
>> Hello Everybody,
>>    I would like to ask a few questions about cultural differences
> ...
> 
> Before I answer the questions, let me note that they have provoked much
> entertainment,
> but probably not much useful stuff for your project... I like to think I
> could change that ... but then again, when I was 17 I thought I could
> change
> the world and now I fear that I can't even change myself :-(
> 
>> 1) What is the predominant language used in business in your country?
> 
> Hmmm. Most business discussions begin with a discussion about which
> language
> will be used ... and then ends up being in a mixture anyway! It's
> predominantly
> French in the south and Dutch (Flemish) in the north and mostly English
> for international business or when the participants need a neutral
> language because they can't agree between Dutch and French!
> However, this is important: any contract is not considered legally binding
> unless it's written in the official language of the region (i.e. Dutch
> in the
> north, French in the south, Dutch or French in the capital and French or
> German
> in the south-east.
(Continue reading)

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Clemens Haupt | 4 Apr 2006 13:22
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Re: Cultural differences question(s)

Am Tuesday 04 April 2006 09:36, meinte Richard A Downing FBCS CITP :
>English is
>almost universally acceptable both for business and day-to-day life.

No. How many people in Europe have German as their motherlanguage?
:-P)))
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Richard A Downing FBCS CITP | 4 Apr 2006 17:13
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Re: Cultural differences question(s)

Clemens Haupt wrote:
> Am Tuesday 04 April 2006 09:36, meinte Richard A Downing FBCS CITP :
>> English is
>> almost universally acceptable both for business and day-to-day life.
> 
> No. How many people in Europe have German as their motherlanguage?
> :-P)))

I was talking about Belgium, not Europe.

R.

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Clemens Haupt | 4 Apr 2006 18:04
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Re: Cultural differences question(s)

Am Tuesday 04 April 2006 17:13, meinte Richard A Downing FBCS CITP :
>Clemens Haupt wrote:
>> Am Tuesday 04 April 2006 09:36, meinte Richard A Downing FBCS CITP :
>>> English is
>>> almost universally acceptable both for business and day-to-day life.
>I was talking about Belgium, not Europe.

Well then try to go to the French speaking part. There they speak English
only when they can profite in any way :-)
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Richard A Downing FBCS CITP | 4 Apr 2006 23:53
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Re: Cultural differences question(s)

Clemens Haupt wrote:
> Am Tuesday 04 April 2006 17:13, meinte Richard A Downing FBCS CITP :
>> Clemens Haupt wrote:
>>> Am Tuesday 04 April 2006 09:36, meinte Richard A Downing FBCS CITP :
>>>> English is
>>>> almost universally acceptable both for business and day-to-day life.
>> I was talking about Belgium, not Europe.
> 
> Well then try to go to the French speaking part. There they speak English
> only when they can profite in any way :-)

Perhaps it's your accent?

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Dave Abergel | 5 Apr 2006 10:01

Re: Cultural differences question(s)

Hi Eric

There's not been so many replies from English people, so I'll chip in!

> 1) What is the predominant language used in business in your country?

English

> 2) How important is it for people to be on-time?

Pretty important. The stereotype of English people arriving five minutes
early for everything has a ring of truth to it!

> 3) What would you consider to be a large misconception about your
> country? 

Am I allowed two answers? That we all like Tony Blair and that we all
speak with posh accents.

> 4) What is academia like in your country? 

I'm studying for a PhD in physics, so I'll answer for that community
within academia. The area of physics which I work in has more non-English
than English people working in it. Personally, I think that this is
because scientific education in British schools is not very good (through
no fault of the teachers - I think that it's a problem with the curriculum
in the main). In my opinion Higher education has been underfunded for
several decades. Many of our universities are in debt, have buildings
which are on the point of falling down and don't pay their staff enough.
This makes it difficult to recruit and retain the best academics because
(Continue reading)

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Clemens Haupt | 5 Apr 2006 10:01
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Re: Cultural differences question(s)

>>>>> English is
>>>>> almost universally acceptable both for business and day-to-day life.
>>> I was talking about Belgium, not Europe.

This really sounds funny :-)

>> Well then try to go to the French speaking part. There they speak English
>> only when they can profite in any way :-)
>Perhaps it's your accent?

In French? In English? In German?

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