Have you ever tried to explain a “slang” word to an individual who is visiting our country?
It’s not an easy task. I’ve worked with individuals from India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Italy, France, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Bahamas, Columbia and Canada, to name a few. Let me give you a few examples of how an associate and I tried to do this.
An IT Director once explained the word “hot” to a young IT Individual from China. The basic definition he was aware of was, “the warmth as to temperature”. The IT Director then continued to explain hot could be used to explain an item or an observation, to mean it looks fantastic or
cool. He also went on to explain hot can be something he may want to say to his own wife when romance is in the air. The young individual from China asked if he could say his boss was hot, the Director shook his head and said, it’s something a man would say to his wife or girlfriend, but not to his boss. I was the audience on this discussion and I was glad the IT director was explaining this to a man than I.
Another story, which caused great confusion for an IT individual from India, was an email he received from his U.S. associate. It seemed the associate send out an email with the subject line, “To all my peeps”. The individual from India had asked me when I arrived in the office if Mr. John lived on a farm and I stated there aren’t any farms within the Chicago borders. So I asked him why the question, he showed me the email which actually was sent to at least 10 people. I explained the word “peeps” was a slang word that meant to all his buddies/friends. These are only two examples of many similar discussions about slang in the U.S.
As most of us who have worked with teams from other countries have observed, in written correspondence the issue with correct spelling for a word. The meaning/definition of the word may be correct but the spelling may be wrong. Here is an example of a correspondence I received from a
team member in India. “I have red all the requirements”. As you can see, the meaning is correct but the spelling pertains to a color, not the action of reading. The English language can be very confusing, add spelling and slang and you may find yourself proofreading each document as it is sent to you.
When executive management states they have contracted with an organization that writes and speaks English that may be true, but to what extent? In my research of offshore teams, it was stated by 40%, people in other countries are less willing to respond in writing or even verbally if they feel their English may be hampered by a deep accent or their spelling may be less than accurate. I know in my writings I always have spell check on since no one can be prefect every time.
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