Cross-Cultural Dialogues: 74 Brief Encounters with Cultural Difference [Paperback]

Craig Storti (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1877864285 | ISBN-13: 978-1877864285 | Publication Date: January 1, 1994

Culture affects everything we do: the simplest phrase can be so steeped in cultural context that even seemingly innocent exchanges between people are loaded with cultural differences waiting to expand into misunderstanding and tension. In response, Cross-Cultural Dialogues: 74 Brief Encounters with Cultural Difference offers a collection of seventy-four brief conversations between an American and people from other cultures, spanning nearly every major region of the world.Each dialogue is categorized as a social, workplace or business interaction and contains at least one breach of cultural norms, which the reader is then challenged to address. Even the most careful reader will be caught off guard by some of the dialogues' hidden subtleties. Storti is meticulous in his analysis of each dialogue, pinpointing not only the moment when the interaction goes wrong, but also identifying the cultural reasons behind each participant's point of view.Whether training others or adding to your own cultural awareness, Cross Cultural Dialogues is an excellent resource, encouraging readers to engage in the world and increase their multicultural understanding. Contents 1 The Concept 2 Social Settings: Dialogues 1-17 3 The Workplace: Dialogues 18-49 4 The World of Business: Dialogues 50-74 5 Seven Lessons How to Write a Dialogue Index of Dialogues by Country/Region

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Craig Storti is founder and co-director of Communicating Across Cultures, a Washington, D.C.-based intercultural communication training and consulting firm specializing in seminars on cross-cultural adjustment and repatriation. With work appearing in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, he is the author of six books, including Speaking of India: Bridging the Communication Gap When Working with Indians and the bestselling Cross-Cultural Dialogues, The Art of Crossing Cultures, and The Art of Coming Home. Having lived nearly a quarter of his life abroad, he lives now in Maryland. For more information, please visit his website: www.craigstorti.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing (January 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1877864285
• ISBN-13: 978-1877864285
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #316,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Training Tool, January 4, 2001

By 

Daria I. Novak (Madison, CT, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cross-Cultural Dialogues: 74 Brief Encounters with Cultural Difference (Paperback)

As president of a cross-cultural training and consulting company, I have found this text extremely useful for providing our clients, corporate managers and executives, a quick, easy-to-read overview of the types of communication challenges that can arise in daily cross-cultural conversations. Typically, the reaction we get is "That just happened to me, but I didn't know what was going on at the time." At ERUdyne, we use the text on a regular basis. We recommend it to all our clients who are new to the global business environment, and to those who want to fine tune their skills for picking up the real message behind the words.

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, December 11, 1999

By 

Jennifer R. Narod (Falls Church, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cross-Cultural Dialogues: 74 Brief Encounters with Cultural Difference (Paperback)

This book is a fun and fascinating read. Craig Storti is truly in tune with the subtleties, pitfalls and opportunities of cross-cultural dialogue. The book does not have an academic or burdensome tone; rather, it is simple to read and understand. I found it quite enjoyable, attempting to figure out (like a riddle), from each small example of a cross-cultural interaction, WHAT the "snags" or miscommunications of each scenario were. I also liked that Mr. Storti divided the book into different settings: social, workplace and business. As a student of conflict analysis and resolution, I have found (and will continue to find) this book extremely useful in my present and future work and interactions; however, anyone, from any walk of life, study, or profession should really read this book, as it would be very useful in our increasingly multi-cultural society, and our world, which is getting smaller and smaller all the time.

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Storti's dialogues fascinating, March 30, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cross-Cultural Dialogues: 74 Brief Encounters with Cultural Difference (Paperback)

I teach in a community college in a small town near the Mexican border and discovered in Storti's book insights that enabled me to avoid small cultural differences that can interfere with communication. My advanced composition class studies the topic of cross-cultural communication world wide, and Storti's book is one of the major resources I make available to them in the college library. The students are fascinated by this segment of the class and like Storti's dialogues a lot.