Intercultural competence is not something you can learn only from books; you need to have experienced it, lived it, become aware of the feelings it has given rise to.
In intercultural training, such feelings can be experienced through games, quizzes, role playing, case studies, selected to guide you from awareness to competence, from ethnocentric to ethnorelativist.
Like anything in life, feelings are not plucked out of thin air, they have their source in what we learn and have learnt. It is the same for intercultural exchanges: they are grounded on foundations of intercultural learning, but such knowledge requires understanding and skills for effective application.
We can learn a list of dos and don’ts; it will bring some knowledge of the target culture, but its validity will be very narrow and limited, covering only to the particular field of activity of the list and restricted to the particular target culture. The question then is, what do you do with that knowledge, how do you use it? And what if you step outside of the target culture, what will you do?
I did it all back to front: I began with multicultural life experience and then acquired the knowledge to be able to share and train.
My knowledge comes from attending courses, reading, reflecting on my past intercultural experiences, going to meetings and exchanging with like-minded people.
Gaining intercultural competence requires stepping outside one’s ’cultural comfort zone’. Adequate training will mitigate unwanted and negative effects when encountering a culture different from one's own.
Who and how
My training combines knowledge with practice, with participants playing an active role using games, video clips of real situations, role playing, case studies, and importantly, de-briefings.
I help leaders and managers to work internationally with colleagues and companies from abroad.
Each session or session group is tailored to the learner’s knowledge and the objectives to be met.
Training can be face-to-face or over the Internet.
Specialism
United Kingdom - France - Latin America.
Other countries on demand.
Training location
Client’s premises or family home*, or via video conferencing.
Training schedule
Training can be a series of one hour sessions, full days or half-day sessions
Full day:09.00hrs to 17.00hrs with lunch and coffee breaks.
Half-day: 09.00hrs to 12.30hrs or 14.00hrs to 17.30hrs with a coffee break.
*Travel, accommodation and food expenses are chargeable if training is not in London
