In this last episode of the first season, the hosts will be reflecting on 2021 and looking forward to 2022, as well as discussing Christmas and NYE traditions in their countries -  Poland and Japan.

In this episode, Seiji Nakano speaks with Kawatani Takashi about trust in Japanese culture. Listen to learn about how building trust in Japan differs from the rest of the world, why is trust the base and the start of any business and personal relationship, and what the attitudes to building trust have to do with the Japanese constitution. Reference: Click Here

This is part 2 of effective international conversation with Bob Dignen and Richard Lowe. Listen for insights on the challenges of influencing, common mistake, resistance to influencing, as well as practical tips you can try to become a better influencer. If you are interested in Influencing Topic, please click here (https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MGTPL9R) to be kept in touch!

In this episode, Seiji & Gabriela are speaking with Bob Dignen (Director of York Associates) and Richard Lowe (Managing Director of WorldWork). They are addressing the topic of effective international influencing. Influencing is one of the key business and leaderships skills which international organisations look for in new employees. It is also a highly sought-after skill amongst English language learners who want to develop competence that goes beyond language. Tune in to learn about influencing in different context. If you are interested in Influencing Topic, please click here (https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MGTPL9R) to be kept in touch!

One of the most essential characteristics of a well-functioning team is trust. However, trust is challenging to build and sustain, especially when working virtually, in a remote and multicultural team. In this episode, Seiji & Gabriela chat with Chris Massey – intercultural trainer and facilitator who is also certified to use WorldWork’s Team Trust Indicator (TTI) psychometric tool. Listen for insights on the importance of trust in teams in the international context, typical challenges in building trust and a range of solutions for monitoring, measuring and developing trust in teams.

As interculturalists, we are used to travelling, meeting people from different cultural environments and basically living in a ‘global village’. In the last twenty months or so all of that was taken away. However, many of us developed new habits instead which we now want to keep. But, as the Covid-related restrictions ease down and we are all much busier again, how do we keep up with the good habits? 

If the future of work is global then is the path to success through developing intercultural competence? Listen to Seiji & Gabriela speaking with their special guest, Michelle Bradley – owner and intercultural consultant at Elephant Communications. They share practical tips on how to get your training participants curious, how to create those priceless aha moments, and how to communicate the value of your service as an intercultural trainer. Tune in and get inspired!

This is the first episode of the new series of monthly intercultural conversations with guests and experts from the intercultural field. This month, our podcast features Joyce Jenkins, a co-founder and managing director at Expert Humans – professional skills development organisation based in Singapore. Listen for insights on the topic of cultural synergy: what is it and what’s the research behind it,why is it crucial for organisations which seek to achieve global success,and how can you use the 8Es framework to create cultural synergy in your team.

Here is an interesting story of Seiji & Gabriela, who at some point realised that they can combine their passion for learning & development with their backgrounds in the intercultural field. Tune in for great insights on various roles and activities in the world of instructional/learning design.

This episode’s guest speaker has had an extraordinary life. Meet Pavle Luger. He was born in the former Yugoslavia, now Croatia, in a very Austro-Hungarian family tradition but later immigrated to Germany and then to Venezuela, and now he lives in Canada. Listen to Seiji & Gabriela chatting with Pavle about his “eurolatinocanadian” perspectives on life.

What happens to our confidence, self-worth and mindset when we move? In this episode, Angelic Ingram, Mindfulness Coach for Expats, chats with Seiji & Gabriela about the emotional changes her clients experience after relocation. She also offers a few suggestions on what to do to move out from the feelings of anxiety, frustration or loneliness.

The Czech proverb does say, “Learn a new language and get a new soul”. So, do you feel like a different person when you speak a foreign language? Many bilinguals report being different in each of their languages, and some researchers have attempted to get to the bottom of this. Seiji Nakano is one of them.Listen to Seiji & Gabriela exploring Seiji’s empirical research on the key factors that influence some multilinguals to feel different when switching languages. 

We all negotiate something every day. However, cultural differences can influence business negotiations in significant and unexpected ways. That's why it is vital that we become more aware of the impact we have on others as well as understand what drives our counterparts’ opinion and position. So, in this episode, we dive a bit deeper into the topic of negotiating across cultures. Seiji & Gabriela and Bill Reed share personal experiences and top tips for negotiating in the multicultural world of work and personal life.

Research tells us that in every society, minority group members (e.g., immigrants) can integrate towards majority group members or locals' culture (e.g. White UK nationals). New work has demonstrated that locals can actually integrate towards minorities, too – and when they do, they seem to be more likely to experience benefits and fewer problems when it comes to overall prosperity, health and wellbeing. So, what can intercultural practitioners and educators in the intercultural field do with this knowledge? Find out in this episode where Seiji & Gabriela chat with Dr Katharina Lefringhausen whose research area is the acculturation of majority group-members towards minority cultures in a shared society (i.e., globalisation-based proximal-acculturation).

Have you ever considered exploring how intercultural communication can be rethought from the perspective of language? Listen to Seiji & Gabriela chatting with Dr Doris Dippold from the University of Surrey. With her motto, “it’s all about language”, Doris is introducing more language-awareness into university education as well as applying the same perspective to Artificial Intelligence. Fascinating work!

Are you considering a career in the intercultural field? Interculturalists often get asked about how they got into the field. As you can guess, everyone’s career story is different – which makes it even more interesting to ask this question to as many interculturalists as you can when considering your own career moves. Listen to Seiji & Gabriela sharing their own stories and if you have an intercultural career question, feel free to get in touch.

English language is everywhere. It’s easy to assume that in order to communicate internationally, one needs to learn to speak English. However, every interculturalist will know that English language fluency isn’t enough. In order to succeed in the international arena, one must also develop intercultural fluency. Listen to Seiji & Gabriela, and this weeks’ special guest – Vanessa Paisley, as they explore the labyrinths of language learning, culture, intercultural communication and much more!

Do you prefer working in a small or a large organisation, and why? We once heard that large organisations have more cultural diversity and small organisations have fewer development opportunities? Hm…isn’t that the other way round!? Listen to Seiji & Gabriela discussing their personal experiences. We would love to hear your own preferences and reasons behind them. Join the chat on our LinkedIn forum.

Is it the knowledge of different countries, is it a feeling of belonging to more than one culture, or is it when your values and beliefs are influenced by other cultures? Or does being multicultural involve all these things? And can you be multicultural to varying degrees? Listen to Seiji & Gabriela sharing some thoughts on their own multicultural identities. We would love to hear from you! Feel free to join the chat on our LinkedIn forum.

There’s plenty of mythology in our culture. Maybe the mythical creatures, legends and heroes could be explored more often in intercultural training? Even when culture no longer believes that its myths are true, these stories often survive as vessels for important cultural values. Listen to Seiji & Gabriela, and Richard Lowe – WorldWork’s CEO, having a very interesting chat about the role of mythology in cultural understanding. We would love for you to join the chat and share your favourite legends via our LinkedIn page.