Skip to 0 minutes and 7 seconds This course is about the relationship between language and culture. We’re going to think about how the language we use affects the way we communicate. So, for example, does the particular language that we speak in a particular communication change the way in which we represent the world around us? Equally, from the other side, does the culture we live and engage in shape the language that we use?
Skip to 0 minutes and 38 seconds What we have to think about is that when we are involved in translation, when one person is having to translate from one language to another, then they’re not just actually translating the linguistic elements. They’re having to translate aspects of their culture, too. And one particular example of this is the issue of politeness. So politeness is really very much tied to culture, and even microcultural contexts. So when we are speaking to somebody from another cultural context, then we have to think about the different ways in which behaviour is evaluated, and what’s considered to be polite in that particular context, and with those particular people.
Skip to 1 minute and 22 seconds This course will be useful for those of you who are studying languages, or perhaps you are going abroad either to work or to study, and also for people who are involved in translation– either as a recipient of translated materials, or in translating materials for others to use. I also hope this course will be useful for everybody, because, of course, all of us live in a globalised world, and all of us are engaged in intercultural communication on a day-to-day basis. For some of us, this might be a very large aspect of our lives. For others of us, it might be just small interactions we have with people on the street. But we are all engaged in this.
Skip to 2 minutes and 5 seconds Having learners from around the world will enrich this experience for all of us hugely. You all have intercultural communication stories to tell and share with other people on FutureLearn, and we would like to hear them. Sign up now for Intercultural Studies– Language and Culture.
