International Communication: Talking Down

"Now, something that you don't want to do when you're having conversations with people from other cultures...we've talked a lot about things that you want to do, now I want to bring up something that you shouldn't do, and that is talk down to them. And when I say talk down to them, I'm saying don't speak to them like they're an idiot. They're not idiots. In fact many, many people that you will encounter in school or business from other cultures, they're very, very smart, and they've worked very, very hard to get to the position that they are in. So you don't want to speak to them as though they are three, or they don't have a brain. All they have is a communication barrier with you because of a different language, or because of different customs. So don't talk down to them. Take it on yourself to try to help them understand and treat them as an equal, not as someone less than you because their way of communicating is different."