Have you ever been in a situation where your American business partner, team mate or employee doesn’t respond the way you expected them to respond? Or perhaps they never get back to you? All of this leaves you wondering what you may have said, written or done to annoy or possibly offend them?
In this inaugural episode of The Dutch American Connection podcast, I interview Suzanne Vine, an American English teacher who graduated from Harvard University. Suzanne spent 5 years in Amsterdam and shares her observations about the way Dutch people use English, how this is perceived by Americans and how you can avoid embarrassing situations. She tells the story of a word on the window of a fancy store in the upscale neighborhood Amsterdam Zuid, which offended its target audience: older ladies of a certain standing!
The fact that the Dutch are fluent in English might keep them from checking with a native speaker to check that the message is clear and communicates what is intended.
-Suzanne Vine
What you will learn:
How a bad translation reflects unfavorably on a world class product.
Why it is a good idea to have a native speaker review processes translated from Dutch to English, even if the translation is perfect.
How the use of language is different across cultures, a word that is appropriate in one culture may not be appropriate in another culture.
You don’t know what you don’t know: pay attention to different nuances in language.
Humor does not travel across cultures.
You can not translate Dutch to English word for word (or vice versa).
Share your thoughts!
I would love to hear your experiences with communicating in a foreign language. Did you unintentionally insult someone (I know I have done so many times!) Did you say one thing but meant something completely different? Feel free to share your experiences by simply clicking here
Want to know more about successfully doing business in the US?
and how you can use the Dutch American differences to your advantage?
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