Meeting people from another culture can be difficult. From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal （信号）. Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship.
Different cultures emphasize （强调） the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree. For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust. Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job．In many European countries -- like the UK or France -- people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or caf6s rather than at the office.
Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures. I once made a speech in Thailand．I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence. The people present just stared at me and smiled．After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much. In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary.
Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems. Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly. We think that they are rude. In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly.
People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other. However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment （多元文化环境） will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other.

（供商榷）

接触来自不同文化地域的人可能会出现困难，在接触的开始阶段，人们就可能发出的是错误的信号，或者是对于对方想建立关系而发过来的信号没有引起注意。
文化的不同，对关系建立的重要性的强调程度也不同。例如，要想在一些国家作贸易之前，必须先要确立一种信赖的关系。即便是与人一起工作，在开始任何工作之前，花大量的时间与之“小谈”（通常在喝茶时进行）是必要的；在许多欧洲国家，象英国和法国，人们发现，在餐馆和咖啡店要比在办公室更容易建立起持久的工作关系。
是该说还是该保持沉默也是随文化不同而不一样的。我曾经在泰国做过一次演讲，我期待的是在我成功的演讲之后出现踊跃讨论的场面，与之相反，出现的是令人尴尬的沉默场面，听演讲的人只是盯着我笑。在对他们的行为方式了解更多之后，我发现他们认为我说的太多了。按照我自己的文化，我们表达意愿主要是通过语言来进行，但他们那里，人们有时觉得太多的语言没有必要。
即便在北欧，文化的差异也可导致严重的问题。的确是这样的，英国和德国在文化上有类式的价值观，然而，德国人倾向快速切入主题，我们认为他们这样做很粗鲁，而事实上，快速开始洽谈、快速作出决断仅仅是他们的一种文化。
世界不同地域的民族有着他们不同的价值观念，有时一些民族观念会有悖于其它民族的价值观念。然而，如果我们能去更好地了解他们，那我们就可以创造一种多元文化的氛围，让我们有机会相互学习。

好文同赏