The University of Sheffield
Student Life

Language and Communication

Discussion

1. Accent and Dialect

  1. Each region has its own accent and dialect. These may well be quite different from anything you have heard in your own country. International students are often surprised at how difficult it can be at first to get used to local accents. Don’t worry! You will get used to the local accent.
  2. Don’t be afraid to ask people to speak slowly or to explain things again. Remind them that you are new to the country and are not yet familiar with the many different accents and dialects.
  3. Your accent may be new to some British people as well. Please do not be offended if others sometimes ask you to repeat things or speak more slowly.

2. Sheffield English

  1. When you first arrive in Sheffield, you will notice that the local variety (dialect, accent and vocabulary) is quite different to that anywhere else in the country.
  2. There are many other aspects of Sheffield English, too numerous to mention here. It may be difficult to understand at first but you will get used to it within a surprisingly short ti me.

`Love!´

One characteristic of language in Sheffield (and many other areas of Britain) is the affectionate names people use. You may find yourself being called `love´, `duck´, `darling´, `angel´, `sweetheart´ or `flower´ by total strangers. There is no need to be alarmed; this is quite usual and does not mean an

ything more than everyday courtesy and friendliness.

`Goodbye´

All over Britain, people say `I´ll see you later´, on parting. This can be confusing since it often does not mean that the speaker expects to see you later. It is simply a colloquial way of saying `good-bye´.

Cross Cultural Communication

1. "A fish doesn´t recognise the property of water until it is removed from it".
"Just as you will bring" clothes and other personal items, you will also carry invisible "cultural baggage". That baggage is not as obvious as the items in your suitcases, but it will play a major role in your adaptation abroad. Cultural baggage contains the values that are important to you and the patterns of behaviour that are customary in your culture. The more you know about your personal values and how they are derived from your culture, the better prepared you will be to see and understand the cultural differences you will encounter abroad." (From Nafsa´s International Student Handbook)

2. To newcomers, the British can seem a strange and difficult nation. To be fair, any host nation can seem strange and difficult to a newcomer in any land. We have all grown up learning strict codes of conduct, rules of behaviour and lists of what is or is not polite. However, these rules and customs are quite different from country to country and few of us are ever taught them in a systematic way. We absorb them, throughout our lives, learning what is acceptable within our own culture and discovering what is not.

3. Living within or alongside another culture, one is bound to make mistakes which offend, amuse or irritate members of the host culture. In the same way, newcomers can be offended, amused or irritated by the speech, behaviour or practices of the host culture. Because rules about what is polite, acceptable or expected in our own culture are not recorded in a concise form, we often do not appreciate how rigid these rules can be or how closely we follow them. When our culture´s rules conflict with another culture´s, we often do not realise that this is what is happening and assume that breakdowns in communication or lack of warmth are due to prejudice or unpleasantness.

4. Personal Space

  1. British people like a lot of space around them.
  2. They tend not to make physical contact of any kind with strangers and feel very uncomfortable if anyone stands too close to them. They will instinctively draw away if anyone comes too close.

5. Shaking Hands

One example of the British `keeping their distance´ is the infrequency with which people will shake hands with one another. British people do not shake hands with one another very often at all.

6. Making Polite Requests

  1. In making polite requests, British people tend to use very indirect language, using the conditional tense and negatives.
  2. For instance, ‘I don’t suppose you could open the window, could you?’ rather than ‘Please open the window.’

`British people never get to the point. They go around this way and that way, using twenty words where three would do. It´s really hard to communicate with them.´ (Israeli student)

`Some nationalities do not always seem very polite; `I want this´ or `I want that´, no smiles nor a please nor a thank you´. (British University Official)

7. Please and Thank You

  1. ‘Please’ and ‘thank you’, are probably the three most important words in the British-English vocabulary.
  2. British people are easily offended if the words are not used. In many languages and cultures such fundamental importance is not attached to these words; one can be perfectly polite without uttering them. In Britain almost the first words children are taught are ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’ (or ‘thanks’ or ‘ta’).
  3. What happens if you don’t use them? In a hall of residence dining room, for example, if one says ‘Chips’ or ‘Can I have chips?’ or ‘Let me have some chips’, the chips will almost certainly be served. However, the facial expression and body language of the person serving will give a clear indication that they are unhappy, offended or do not like dealing with this particular student. The student may see this negative reaction but not be aware what has gone wrong. S/he may see that staff are more friendly towards British students and may assume that staff simply do not like foreigners. It is far more likely that ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’ were omitted from the exchange and that the British person was reacting to this.

8. Smiling

  1. Some students say that British people smile a lot, compared to many national groups – often for no particular reason.
  2. The British smile as a greeting, smile when asking for something, smile on receiving it.
  3. ‘The British are so insincere. They smile even when they are not happy or pleased to see you. One woman smiled at me every time we passed each other and I thought she really liked me. So I asked her to come out with me and she refused. She was leading me on and then turned me down’ (A male overseas student)
    Well, she probably did not realise that she was smiling and probably smiled at everyone. But it is easy to see how this could be misinterpreted by someone in whose culture smiles are used only to express genuine warmth.
  4. ‘You told us the British smiled all the time. I find them very unsmiling, especially when compared to people at home.’ (Female Singaporean Student)
    Yes, if you are from a culture which uses smiles even more, you may not find that the British smile very often. Many students comment that they do not find people in shops, banks, at reception desks smile enough to make them feel welcome.

9. Greetings

As has already been said, British people do not shake hands very much. In Sheffield people may greet each other by smiling or saying `hallo´/´hi´/´are you all right?´ etc, nodding or raising their eyebrows or, if they are close friends, hugging or kissing each other on the cheek(s). (Heterosexual British males usually do not hug, hold hands with or kiss other men.)

10. Humour

  1. Every culture has its own sense of humour, jokes and rules for establishing friendly communications. It is not possible to learn these quickly or easily.
  2. British jokes and good humour rely heavily on a shared knowledge of British culture, politics, colloquial language, media and other areas which are unfamiliar to newcomers or even to some people who have been here for several years.
  3. Informal relationships among British students and between British students and staff can therefore exclude many international students. Most British people do not realise at all that they are doing this.
    ‘The technicians started laughing and joking with the British students from the first day as if they were already friends. With us they seem cold and unfriendly. (Turkish student)
  4. British humour also relies heavily on teasing or ‘leg-pulling’, as it is known. This can take the form of picking on aspects of an individual’s personality and exaggerating them in fun.
  5. Sarcasm and plays on words are also common.
  6. British humour can seem offensive or insulting until you get used to it.
  7. Try not to be offended; if you do find it difficult to tolerate, tell the person concerned that you feel very uncomfortable with his/her jokes.
  8. Jokes about race, sexuality or gender are generally considered unacceptable.

11. Topics of Conversation

It is usually not considered polite to ask someone their age or their income. Otherwise, most topics can be discussed openly and frankly.
Some cultures will find that the British are prepared to discuss issues which they might consider to be private or not to be widely disclosed. The rules about what is suitable for public disclosure and what is not vary from one culture to another.

12. Privacy

The British may seem to talk about many personal things but are, in fact, very private people.

  1. Privacy is regarded as a right.
  2. People do not like to share possessions without being asked.

13. Friendship

International students often comment how difficult it is to make friends with UK students. Every group (including yours!) will naturally feel more comfortable with others of the same culture; British students are no different. Remember:

  1. friendship takes time in any culture
  2. you are coming to University expecting an international experience; the British students aren’t – they chose a University in their home country.
  3. don’t confuse “friendliness” with “friendship”.

14. Customer Care
Most organisations and companies try to place great emphasis on good customer relations. However, international students have often comented on some negative aspects.

  1. Lack of smiles
  2. "Clock Watching" - employees expect - and often need - to leave work/go on breaks punctually. This means that customers/students may sometimes be asked to return at another time if it is near closing time.