“Misunderstandings do not exist, only the failure to communicate.”
South-East Asian proverb
Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus are considered to be the pioneers in the sphere of Intercultural Communication. First communicants often used force to overcome cultural gaps. But when Americans faced the “strange” behavior of their allies (Russia and China) during WWII, they felt a need for an efficient dialogue. Consequently, on January 7, 1948, the Smith-Mundt act was signed in the United States, which ordered the American government to take measures to promote better understanding between Americans and peoples of other countries.
Large open spaces force the representatives of Russia and America to “think big”, be communicative and openhearted. Whereas life on an island made the English look somewhat reserved and inhibited. Those who cannot escape from others physically, do that mentally and having everything conveniently located at hand, people have enough time to speak clearly and slowly. However, there are historical parallels, such as the development of the West by the Americans, Siberia by the Russians, as well as building the Empire by the British, determining their self-identification and attitude to other nations, which has a direct impact on Intercultural Communication.
Naturally, the common roots and the unity of the language establish the proximity of the British and Americans, but the differences between them, resulting from different historical destinies, are very significant and should be taken into account in the analysis of their Intercultural Communication. The Englishman D. Thomas admitted that when visiting America, he felt “the barrier of a common language”. Russian schools are supposed to teach British English as a foreign language, while youngsters receive examples of American English from the Net. As a result, despite the impeccable grammar and so much that is correct, there is so little that is right when Russian travellers try to trig a dialogue which proves that “doing as the Romans, when in Rome”, is impossible without basic knowledge of the local traditions, culture and Law.
English colloquial codes require an understanding of the differences in speech of social classes. All cultures have a social hierarchy, but class identification in England has nothing to do with money or occupation (contrary to Russia and America). Speech is all-important. A person with an upper-class accent, using upper-class terminology, will be recognized as upper class even if he or she is earning poverty-line wages, doing grubby menial work. Americans are inclined to call “correct” English the one used on TV. That seems to be a bit illogical as news reporters come from different parts of the United States and speak different dialects of American English. Meaning pronunciation, experts believe that it is unlikely that a non-native English speaker will get rid of an accent and for the English their social status will always be – an alien. So, Russian tourists happily keep practicing their Slavic [g] and [h] in every greeting in hope their accent will not frighten those who have a desire to communicate.