The Main Reasons Why Arabs Have Communication Problems In Estonia

The Main Reasons Why Arabs Have Communication Problems In Estonia

We all know that our success in life depends in a great deal how good communicators we are. New immigrants often believe that just learning vocabulary and grammar makes them effective communicators and solves all the problems. However, in the long run they notice that they have misunderstandings and conflicts everywhere. By observing cultural differences in communication styles and practices of new immigrants in Estonia, I have recorded several cultural differences that lead to conflicts and misunderstandings instead of success.

Recently we saw a case in media where a group of Arabs tried to change their drivers licenses in Estonia, however, caused a media event by threatening officials. The main reason for the conflict was that although Arabs spoke Estonian, they used totally different communication style than Estonians do. It was really interesting to see how the officials tried to explain the regulations according to their own direct communication style, however, as Arabs and Estonians have very different listening and speaking habits, Arabs did not get the message but perceived it as an unfriendly behavior and responded with threats. When officials analysed the situation later they claimed that Arabs didn't listen to them, that they spoke about irrelevant things, didn't obey rules and threatened officials. They perceived the whole communication behavior of Arabs as aggressive. I have been training officials and customer servants on these issues to reduce cross-cultural conflicts in Estonia, and they usually claim that Arabs don't understand the meaning of the word "no", they don't get that it really means that "something is not possible". They seem to think that they just have to explain longer and come back on the next day with bigger group and speak louder.

According to my observations most of the Arabs tend to use the same communication behavior over and over again in different situations in Estonia although they never reach their goals. There are enormous cultural differences in how to approach other people, how to say what is relevant using direct and indirect communication styles, differences in using body language, personal space as well as in values and norms.

As a matter of fact, the cross-cultural communication problems concern not only Arabs. Some years ago there was an incident in Estonian Business School where 30 students from India were expelled because they didn't participate in classes and didn't complete their assignments by deadline. I have seen many cases where cultural differences in expectations caused failed job interviews and other communication problems.

The main reason why new immigrants are often not effective communicators in Estonia is because they are not aware of cultural differences in communication styles. Every sales person or customer servant knows that in order to achieve your goals you have to build a rapport with your customer or other person. However, you cannot create a rapport by transferring the communication patterns and expectations from your home culture into the new and totally different cultural environment. In language courses teachers are not aware of cultural differences in communication styles and are not able to teach those skills. Language coursebooks are not designed to teach cross-cultural communication nor how to become successful in business and life. For this purpose there are other courses available, but these are neither included nor offered through the language courses for new immigrants.

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