Chapter 1 Brief Introduction to Intercultural Communication

Objectives and Requirements

After learning this chapter, you should be able to:

For those who work or live in the globalized world, sometimes it is amazing to see how different people in other cultures behave. We tend to have an instinct that all people are the same “deep inside”—but they are NOT. Different countries have different cultures. As the whole pattern of human behavior and its product, culture crosses geographical limits and historical conditions in many ways. So cultural differences are everywhere. They affect people's views of the world and their ways of thinking. If we have some knowledge about intercultural communication, we can reduce anxiety, anger, or frustration. And we can be more effective when communicating with people from other countries. In this chapter, we may find the answer to these questions: