Cross–cultural communication requires knowing how different groups communicate with each other. Studying languages provides insight into what people and societies have in common, which helps develop a critical awareness of social relationships.

There are, however, several challenges with language socialization. Sometimes people over-generalize or label cultures with stereotypical characterizations. For instance, one may stereotype by saying that Americans eat McDonald’s hamburgers and fries every day, or Russians eat borshch (beet and cabbage soup) for breakfast and drink vodka before bedtime. Both stereotypes are far from the truth.

With increasing international trade and travel, different cultures meet, conflict, cooperate and blend together. People from distinct cultures often find it difficult to communicate, not only because of language barriers but also due to different culture–styles and traditions. 

Cultures provide people with ways of thinking, seeing, hearing, behaving, understanding and interpreting. Thus, the same words or gestures can mean quite different things to people from different cultures—even when they speak the same language.

The Russian jokester was a large, broad-shouldered man—his voice deep and curt. No one among the Alaskan delegation laughed after hearing the joke.

The quote “Two nations divided by a common language,” often attributed to George Bernard Shaw, highlights the differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, and cultural nuances that can exist between speakers of the same language. When languages are different, however, and translation is needed just to communicate, the potential for misunderstandings significantly increases.

From the mid–1980s to early–2000s, I was an unofficial Russian translator in Alaska for the U.S. and State of Alaska governments, as well as for various public institutions and private individuals. The most challenging aspect of the translation was relaying specific terminology, such as that used by the U.S. Coast Guard, medical professionals, political protocols and verbiage and, especially, jokes and humorous expressions. Often, I had to provide cultural and historic backgrounds before translating a joke. 

Once, a member of the Russian delegation, in an informal setting over dinner, told a joke to his Alaskan counterparts:

“Archaeologists found an ancient sarcophagus in Egypt with human–made artifacts and skeletal remains. Experts around the world thoroughly investigated this finding to identify the person buried in the sarcophagus but had no success. So, they invited a KGB agent (Soviet Committee for State Security) Major Ivan Ivanov to investigate this matter. Major Ivanov spent nearly three hours in solitude with the skeleton and, finally, with a confidence in his voice, reported to the archaeologists that the remains and skeleton belong to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses the Second. Archaeologists were impressed by this quick revelation and asked Ivanov, “How certain are you of this remarkable conclusion?” Then Ivanov replied with a great pride, ‘After three hours of the bulldozer interrogation, the skeleton itself revealed to me his identity!’”

The Russian jokester was a large, broad-shouldered man—his voice deep and curt. No one among the Alaskan delegation laughed after hearing the joke. They sat still at the table, holding crystal shots of vodka, and just stared with alarm at the joke-teller.

I had to provide the Alaskans with some background about the notorious brutality of the Soviet KGB. Unfortunately, in the process of explaining the joke, the humor disappeared.

In teaching Russian language at the University of Alaska Southeast for 16 years, my very first message to students was to emphasize that a language must always be understood and learned in a cultural context. As an example, I shared with them a personal and rather humorous story of my early arrival to the United States in Philadelphia during the winter of 1978.

In the early years of my immigration, I watched a lot of TV to learn English, American traditions and lifestyles. Many advertisements described food items and dishes, including various salads, using the word “delicious.”

It was a new experience for me because there were no TV ads for commercial products in the former Soviet Union due to a lack of commercial competition. The government controlled standardized prices for commercial products throughout the entire country.

So, I understood the word “delicious” as a name of the salad (a noun) rather than the quality of the salad (an adjective). In fact, food dishes have a particular name in Russia—Chicken Kiev, Salad Stolichniy (salad capital), Borshch (beet and cabbage soup), Beef Stroganoff (meat stew), Blini (Russian for pancakes), etc.

Later that year, my uncle from Canada, accompanied by his wife and daughter, visited me in Philadelphia. As a welcome greeting to America, they invited me to a fancy restaurant downtown. When the waiter asked for my order, I requested a steak, shot of vodka and “delicious” salad—hoping my order would match the “delicious” salad that I had seen on TV. The puzzled waiter leaned slightly and whispered to me, “Sir, all our food is delicious.” Then, I clarified to the waiter, “I want a delicious salad.” The confused waiter served me a cabbage with mustard.

So, that evening in the fancy restaurant, I enjoyed a delicious steak and stuffed myself with a cut-in-half cabbage with mustard. This was a prime lesson in cross-cultural miscommunication.

Indeed, the demographics and cultural complexity of our nation changes rapidly. It is only a matter of time before ethnic minorities in our country take a lead in shaping the cultural and ethnic landscape of our nation and, eventually, become a significant ethnic majority. These demographic and cultural changes are unavoidable. However, our society should learn to make inclusive and, yet conservative cross–cultural adjustments without undermining the fundamental core of American Judeo–Christian religious, cultural and moral values.

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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