I worked at a manufacturer with headquarters in the United States for about five years. Although my English ability was not troubled by e-mail and a little communication, I think that it was about 600 for TOEIC. I was involved in product development marketing. I worked in Japan, but in Japan the work is mainly a bridge between sales and development engineers, confirming that there is a product development schedule and a consultant schedule, and preparing for industry exhibitions. Or cooperating with the Public Relations Department to recommend product press releases. Under such circumstances, there were many products developed in the United States, and there were more opportunities to use English during work. Here are some tips for working happily with an American who worked for a foreign company.
Are English and communication skills proportional?
Not proportional
My English ability was about 600 TOEIC, which was not very high, but fortunately I received good reviews from employees at the US headquarters.
I originally had the goal of living in the United States, and I was actively communicating with people at the headquarters by phone and email, but I think that was because I knew a lot about how to communicate with them. The
For this reason, I can’t say that English and communication skills are proportional. If it is proportional, I can’t think I could communicate with my English.
Importance of discussion
Basically, it is said that the level of English is quite high if you can talk in English. However, relatively overseas, I have the impression that we are exchanging opinions with the perception of discussion rather than quarrels. On the other hand, there are many people who do not know this even among those who take high scores in TOEIC, even if they are Japanese bosses and general managers, they become emotional to the American headquarters and always fight. There are many people who end up becoming.
I didn’t know the habit of discussing, and as a result, I became Jesusman and had a lot of work, and there were a lot of colleagues who were sick. While watching such a teacher, I wasn’t fighting as much as possible, and I was trying to engage with employees at the headquarters in the US.
Employee experience
When I was a student, I had learned one-on-one English conversation. The native instructor who studied English thinks that Japanese people should agree with the opinions of others immediately, but there are people from various countries in English speaking countries, so no matter how close they are He taught me that it is natural to do. I think this experience has been very helpful in my work.
Help those in need
Communicate work progress
Besides that, if I had any problems, I could contact my colleagues without hesitation and ask for help. I think many people have helped me by clarifying what I need and what I want to help.
Similarly, some of my colleagues have experienced that if you ask for help, you will always get help. By doing this, I was able to talk about my work progress obediently, and I think that I was able to receive high acclaim from employees at the US headquarters.
Position does not matter to reach out
At that time, I was a regular employee, but I thought that some of the people who helped me were at the general manager level. I have also been helped by highly skilled engineers in Silicon Valley.
Originally an engineer at a science university, I was initially weak at those who had an MBA in the United States. But by working with them, getting help, and helping others, you can learn from their work skills and still work.
There may be such elements
Americans generally hate having other people take their jobs. In my case, however, I live in a different place, so Americans may have been able to teach without worrying about getting a job. Also, I was trying to carefully convey Asian information that they wouldn’t know about, so it might have been a win-win relationship.
Find out personal characteristics and white teeth
Efforts to improve humanity
What I thought of as a failure while working with Americans was that I didn’t change my way of contact according to the human nature of the other person. In the United States, changing jobs is more common than in Japan, and there are many people with various backgrounds, so even if you are in the same company, there are individual differences in how you work and how to build trust.
Therefore, it is important to improve efficiency to judge the human nature of the other person regardless of the position and to know who is helping his work.
The importance of white teeth
For Americans, depending on the class, smiles on white teeth are often emphasized, and there is a tendency to focus on correcting and brushing teeth.
It was always a complex that I had a lot of silver teeth and I couldn’t laugh well by showing my teeth. If you want to be able to speak English in the future, or want to live in the United States, you should stick to white teeth, not silver teeth, even if you have tooth decay.
Play discussion games!!
I was playing a discussion game at an English conversation school that I attended when I was a student. It ’s a game where you decide on a theme and discuss your opinions, and simply compete to see who wins. In Japan, it may be close to debate.
Among the themes, there were many things that could be answered with yes or no, such as “Do you want to marry” or “Do you like video games”? It was a good experience for me to share my opinions and learn to listen to other people. And it was just a game and never a fight, so there was no need to fight.
I think that this experience was very useful for my work later.
If you want to work for a foreign-affiliated company in the future, I would like you to incorporate this kind of discussion game on a daily basis.
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