Episode 24 - International Communication in English with Chia Suan Chong

Have you ever had problems communicating with people from different cultures? Have you ever felt that your English is good, but you're still not getting your message across? Speaking a language isn't just about getting the words right – especially when you're dealing with people from all over the world. In this episode, I interview the awesome Chia Suan Chong, an expert in international communication and English as a lingua franca. We talk about: - what English as a lingua franca is; - who can communicate better in English: native speakers or non-native speakers (the answer will surprise you); - how to be polite in English; - an interesting case of misunderstandings between catering ladies from India and baggage handlers at Heathrow Airport; - how communication skills can save lives; - whether teachers are prescriptivists or descriptivists; - how giving grammar reasons and not grammar rules can be better teaching; - how language can show us our similarities and differences. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did (which was a lot!)