Global Culture: Diversity in the Age of Globalization

7 Strategies for Expanding Your Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity

If you’ve ever had an Italian espresso at Starbucks served by a Hispanic barista with Brazilian jazz playing in the background, you know exactly what I’m talking about – Global Culture. Driven by the democratization of technology, globalization is in full swing. Goods, people and ideas are moving seamlessly across borders. Cultures are changing. Blending. How do you keep up with the changing pace of technology and this Global Culture?

The answer is found in Linguistic Solutions’ president and CEO, Christopher Hurtado’s presentation Global Culture: Diversity in the Age of Globalization. Here’s what one audience had to say about the presentation:

Our employees gave up their lunch hour in order to hear you speak on global diversity. What an information packed lunch hour! And you provided numerous resources for people who wanted to continue to learn after your presentation. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, including that the presentation was interesting, insightful, refreshing, and enjoyable. Thank you so much for your wonderful presentation.

– Karen Orso, Product Marketing Manager, Cardinal Health

And here are are the seven above mentioned strategies and accompanying resources from the presentation:

Learn a Language – Expand Your Ability to Communicate With Others

• Audible.com – audio that speaks to you wherever you are – use “cpaulhurtado” as your referral to join Audible and learn a language without a book with the Pimsleur Method
• Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book: Survival Skills for Over 40 Languages by Eric Dondero
• Vacation Spanish: A Survival Guide for Mexico, the Caribbean, Central & South America by Eric Dondero and Christopher Hurtado, president and CEO of Linguistic Solutions
• TANDEM Language Exchange Community – meet like-minded people, from different cultures who speak different languages
• Language Exchange Community – members from over 130 countries practicing 115 languages!
• eTandem Europa – a tandem learning project funded by the European Commission
• eTandem Syllabus – an explanation of the eTandem method and how to apply it
• expatriates.com – a “community website created for and by expatriates and internationally minded people everywhere”
• FriendsAbroad.com – language learning

Create a Friendship – Expand Your Network Globally

• Ecademy – Business Networking – Connecting Business People – join now and connect with Linguistic Solutions’ president and CEO, Christopher Hurtado
• Open Business Club (openBC) – join now and connect with Linguistic Solutions’ president and CEO, Christopher Hurtado; join the Language and Translation forum (moderated by Hurtado)
• Ryze business networking – join now and connect with Linguistic Solutions’ president and CEO, Christopher Hurtado
• Friendsabroad.com – make contact with people from all over the world
• TANDEM Language Exchange Community – meet like-minded people, from different cultures who speak different languages
• Language Exchange Community – members from over 130 countries practicing 115 languages!
• eTandem Europa – a tandem learning project funded by the European Commission
• eTandem Syllabus – an explanation of the eTandem method and how to apply it
• expatriates.com – a “community website created for and by expatriates and internationally minded people everywhere”
• FriendsAbroad.com – language learning

Study Another Religion – Expand Your Mind

• Official information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – the official Internet site
• Christianity – Latter-day Saints – from Rachel Woods, your guide to  Christianity – Latter-day Saints
• Understanding Islam: An LDS Perspective by Daniel C. Peterson – recommended listening on Islam for Latter-day Saints
• Latter-Day Insights: The Middle East by Victor L. Ludlow – recommended listening on the Middle East for Latter-day Saints
• Al-Islam – Islam resources and information
• Why Islam? – an ICNA project
• Judaism 101 – “an encyclopedia of information about Judaism, Jewish practices, holidays, people and beliefs”
• About Judaism – from Lisa Katz, your guide to Judaism
• Official Denominational Web Sites – a comprehensive, if not exhaustive list
• Adherents.com –

  national & world religion statistics

Read a Foreign Newspaper – Expand Your Point of View

• Al Jazeera English – AJE – English version of the Arabic-language news network
• elmundo.es – Spain’s second most widely read newspaper after El País
• ELPAIS.es – Spain’s most widely read newspaper
• PressDisplay.com – read 200 newspapers from 50 countries in their original form and layout before they hit the newstands in their respective countries
• PressInterpreter | The foreign language press in English –
• TheMediaLine.org – The Mideast News source –
• Times Online – London, England’s Times online
• When did our lives go global? Try 300 AD – article from Canada’s The Globe and Mail
  
  

Discover the Art and Folklore of Another Culture – Expand Your Cultural IQ

• Guernica: Testimony of War – modern art’s most powerful antiwar statement
• Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia – home of Picasso’s Guernica
• Museo del Prado – One of the most comprehensive and visited collections in the world
• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston – MFAH Spotlight: Inverted Utopias: Avant Garde Art in Latin America (Closes September 12, 2004)
• Los Diablos de Yare – The Devils of Yare (Venezuela)
• Siempre Hermanos – music of Grupo Raices de Venezuela

 

Visit Another Country – Expand Your Horizons

• SPAIN.INFO – the official Turespaña site
• www.visitmexico.com – the official Mexico Tourism Board site
• Visit Brazil – Brazil Tourism Office – the official Tourism Office of the BrazilianEmbassy, Washington, D.C. site
• CIA – The World Factbook – select a country to get information about it

Sample Ethnic Cuisine – Expand Your Palate

• El Meson Restaurant– Cuban, Mexican, and Spanish fare in Houston’s Rice Village
• Churrascos, Americas, and Amazon Grill – South American fare in Houston
• Fogo de Chao – Brazilian fare in Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Houston and Beverly Hills
• Mykonos Island Restaurant – Greek fare in Houston
• Cafe Lili – Lebanese fare in Houston
• Blue Nile Ethiopian Restaurant – Ethiopian
  fare in Houston

Other Resources – Expand Your Knowledge

• Google News Alerts – Linguistic Solutions’ president and CEO, Christopher Hurtado, gets News Alerts for the following keywords: “translation,” “localization,” “globalization” and “thomas l. friedman”
• Millenium @ nationalgeographic.com – series of articles on globalization
• When did our lives go global? Try 300 AD – article from Canada’s The Globe and Mail

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