Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Inter-cultural Miscommunication

Culture is a collection of symbols that represent a certain community. Language is one of the cultural symbols. When I first came to Singapore, I had difficulties understanding what the locals said. The following experience is quite unique to me.

One day I was out in the street alone and looking for the bus No. 3 to get back home. While being lost and knowing barely anything about my whereabouts, I asked a man who just walked pass by. He said, “Oh, tree ah. Okie, you just go straight from here, and you will see tree lah. ” While being befuddled, I tried to visualize based on what I heard. Trees! That was all I could think of. What did the bus stop do with trees? “Oh maybe the bus stop is beside a tree. How humourous Singaporeans are!” I thought. So for the following one hour under the sun, I was frantically looking for a tree. I indeed found every single visibly tall tree in the area. However out of dismay, I didn’t see the bus no. 3 near any trees that I found. In the end, I was fortunate enough to be sent back home by a passenger.

Not until I shared my experience with my school teachers did my confusion over the “tree” event disappeared. I began to realise that besides British English, American English and Chinglish, there is one more type of English; that is the Singlish. Then I finally understood why miscommunication arose that day. “Three” and “tree” are pronounced in the same way in Singlish. The man who helped me that day actually meant “three” by saying “tree”.

From my own personal experience, I have learnt that we should never make assumptions when we are on a foreign land. Just like “tree” carries two different meanings in Singapore, things may be said or done in an entirely different manner in places that we are unfamiliar with. It is always helpful if we have done sufficient research on cultural difference besides geographical information before visiting a foreign country. This will definitely aid in our understanding of a new culture greatly. And miscommunication due to cultural difference could be curtailed as well.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Xiaoxing,

    Interesting post you had there. Yup, they do sound similar and sometimes confusing, leading to the situation u described above. This also happens with other singlish like 'lah', 'lor' and 'leh'. I guess it does show that knowledge of differences between cultures helps in minimizing miscommunications. Glad you met another kind soul who got you back =)

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  2. Hey Xiaoxing,

    In my perspective, that "tree" dude was just being stupid and unhelpful. Anyone with common sense would know that you were not looking for a tree.

    Anyway, at least you managed to find your way back eventually. Despite the differences in culture, I believe something which is universal is the desire to help someone else in need.

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  3. hey xiaoxing,
    I experienced the same thing as you. Singlish was a headache to me. But now, I can kind of love it. I believe once we used to the culture and we start to appreciate the beauty. Differences are no longer obstacles and become its unique traits.

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