Introduction

Hello and welcome to the course "Navigating Cultural Differences: Practical Communication Skills"! This course aims at re-wiring your approaches to communicating and interacting with cultures other than your own - in a gentle way. You will learn to question your own behaviour and the behaviour of others in favour of a respectful and successful communication between cultures. 

This course includes three chapters plus a final summary and test section. In the first chapter, you will focus on awareness for your own cultural habits and other peoples' habits. The second chapter will teach you verbal and non-verbal strategies for successful communication. Lastly, the third chapter will prepare you for everyday-situations that may require a culture-sensitive communication.

Each chapter will include an input source (text or video), a short quiz, and a real-life-exercise that encourages you to reflect and practice your intercultural communication skills in real settings. The latter will not, however, contribute to successfully concluding this course.

Now, have fun exploring the chapters and learning new strategies for intercultural communication!

My name is Helena Grunebaum and I am a lecturer for academic writing at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany. I usually teach students how to write papers in academia, but I have a degree in linguistics and cultural studies and I enjoy working in intercultural settings. I've found myself in several situations where I was interacting with international students or colleagues on international conferences and had to navigate these intercultural encounters. I'm happy to support you in learning these skills too and hope you enjoy the course!

Course content

Awareness: becoming aware of one’s own and other cultures’ habits and practices without supporting stereotypes and prejudices

Approaches: preparing for intercultural encounters by learning about ways to communicate about culture and paying attention to verbal and non-verbal language use

Collaboration: developing strategies and ideas for successful collaboration in intercultural settings, e.g. working or living in intercultural communities

Learning pathway

[sample paragraph, please adapt as you see fit]
The Moodle campus is structured in three main sections—Introduction, Content, and Conclusion—to guide participants through a clear and consistent learning journey. After reviewing the introductory materials (welcome message, course description, and syllabus), you should follow the Learning Pathway by progressing sequentially through the content sections, each of which includes an over-view, core learning materials, interactive activities, and a short conclusion. All core content and ac-tivities within these sections are compulsory and must be completed in the given order to ensure understanding and progression, while any “extra materials” are clearly marked as optional and not required for course completion. Intermediate results, such as quiz scores or activity feedback, are available within each section, allowing you to track your progress continuously. Upon completing all required sections and activities, you can access their final results in the course summary area and download your certificate from the final “Conclusion” section, where guidance on certification and further learning opportunities is also provided.