No widely spoken language is spoken the same everywhere, US and UK English, French and, to a larger extent, Spanish. Each region it is spoken in adds their own flavour to it, changing accents, meanings of words and grammatical constructions.

This results is what may sometimes seem like a completely new language. Volado – Spanish past perfect of fly. Are you sure? In Columbia it means angry, in El Salvador it is an object. So how do we request a translation and ensure the document will be easily read by Spanish speakers from so many different parts of the world?

There is no correct or better Spanish; we simply try to use a Spanish which is comprehensible to all, despite what is spoken in a particular region day to day. Man rather than lad, guy, dude or bro. This concept of a standard Spanish variation has not surprisingly been named “Neutral Spanish”.

I have used the word simply, but unfortunately it is not all that simple. Finding a neutral ground in anything takes time, research and sacrifice. Most difficult of all in this case, is the impossibility of forming certain grammatical structures in a neutral way.

What’s so different between Latin American and European Spanish?

The most known example of this is the singular “you” which, in Spain, is translated to “tu”, but in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Central American countries, it translates to “vos”, while some Colombians tend to use the formal alternative “usted”. The problem here is that all three pronouns require different verb conjugations and that at least one of the three versions will always sound a bit awkward in any given Spanish speaking country.

Also keep in mind that when using it, it is necessary to avoid slang, unexplained abbreviations and issues that are specific to a region. This can make it seem more technical and formal or impersonal, but depending on the text, it is usually how we want it anyway, to ensure it can reach a wide variety of audiences from different regions.

The concept does not only refer to written Spanish, in fact, many of the differences between Spanish variants are in pronunciation and not in the text itself.

The common ground – Neutral Spanish

Neutral Spanish has found a way to tackle this problem. The two most popular Latin American television channels in the US are Telemundo and Univision. Telemundo has coached their telenovela (literally TV novels) – soap opera – stars in speaking with Neutral Spanish accents. The accent is something akin to the Mexican accent; it is between the slow murmur of Central America, the elongated vowel sounds of Argentina and the fast, terse accent of Columbia.

Univision, its competitor, has also coached their actors to speak in a similar accent, but it does not oblige them to so, as they are in Telemundo. Maybe it should think about it – Telemundo has 80% of the Latin American TV audience. The key here is inclusion. There are few people who feel left out because they don’t understand certain jokes or expressions that are used in the Telenovela, and this is also the key to a successful Spanish translation.

Know what to ask for

Like a request for anything the rules must be stated before the game commences. The translator must be made aware that the text will be read by people whose background, cultures, sense of humour and even tolerance levels diverge greatly and a middle ground must be researched and found. Once this balance has been struck, the Spanish speaking audience possibilities are only as limited as the variations themselves.

For website translation, unless your content is aimed at a very specific country, Neutral Spanish is a safe bet. Your Spanish pages will read natural to people around the world, making everyone feel right at home.

Liza D’Arcy is linguistic coordinator of the Spanish Army at the Valencian barracks in Valencia, Spain. She also works as a translator for ICanLocalize and specializes in social sciences.

While very similar to European and North American business practices, Turkish etiquette comes with its very own Asian and Islamic flavors, making the whole business experience an interesting yet sometimes challenging process.

Istanbul University

Building Relationships

The first thing you should forget about when coming to Turkey is extensive personal spaces. From the table settings in restaurants to the closeness people practice when talking, everything is a bit more intimate than foreigners are used to. You should try to adapt and see it more as friendliness and openness than prying into the other conversation.

Family is the concept that the Turkish society is built on. Therefore business men and women are dedicated to the well being of their close and even more distant families, there are quite a few business owned businesses and when there’s not a real family connections, heads of the company are seen as mother or father figures and are expected to be concerned about their employees’ well being.

As a direct result, business deals are closed based on family, connections, trust and friendship. Turks tend to close deals with people they know, are friends with or who have been recommended by friends. So when in Turkey, either get a strong business partner to help you build relationships, or, with every company you intend to do business with, spend plenty of time building relationships with a few of its representatives.

Also remember to schedule meetings one or two weeks in advance and to always be on time. If you’re running late, try to call and say you’ll be running late. Being on time is expected for both business meeting and social events, being fashionable late won’t really work.

This means that the first meeting is always about getting to know each other. Exchange business cards and if at all possible make sure one side of your is in Turkish, learn a few words in Turkish, such as: Merhaba – Hello, Gunaydin – Good morning, Nasilsiniz – How are you?, Gule Gule – Good bye, Iyi gunler – which is used to both greet someone when meeting them and to wish them a nice day when the meeting is over.

Ayasofya Mosque

Ask as many questions you like about the Turkish culture or history, they will be happy and proud to answer them, but try to avoid politics. Also try football (soccer) as everyone is crazy about it. If players from your country were ever part of a Turkish team, they will know, even if it was not the team they support. Asking about one’s children and sometimes even more intimate details as age or salary are ok to talk about.

Business Hierarchy and the Elderly

The elderly, the family heads and business heads are well respected in Turkey. This of course influences relationships and behaviors. When meeting a larger group, you should try handshaking with the older ones first and then the youngest. Handshaking might occur again when the meeting is over and if you see men cheek kissing, that should not surprise you. Women also shake hands with men, but if you’re not sure if they do or not, wait for them to extend their hand to avoid any faux-pas.

The western business wear is widely accepted, but some still recommend women should try a more conservative look. I’d say it depends on region, company and personal beliefs of both employers and employees. There are more and more women with BA degrees obtained both in Turkey and abroad, they work and often live alone.

Moving to respect to how to address your Turkish business partners, you’ll be surprised to find out they are not very formal they use the Mr and Mrs titles, Bey and Hanim with first names, something like Mehmet Bey. Yet using their titles, such as doctor or lawyer or professor is highly recommended.

Never pressure them to go straight to business, remember to build a relationship first! And when you actually get to negotiate, patience is really a virtue. Don’t try deadline and pressure tricks, Turks are highly sophisticated businessmen and will turn your own tricks against you. Instead, try to focus on a mutually beneficial deal, give in and compromise, but when you do, stress the fact you’re only acting so because of how much you like and appreciate them as business partners.

Muslim Heritage and Gift Giving

Gifts are not something extremely common in the business environments. But branded gifts when having an office meeting or sweets or alcohol when going to dinner to someone’s house will be vividly appreciated. But keep in mind: Turkey is still a Muslim country. Although most drink alcohol, especially the traditional Raki (very similar to the Greek Uzo), it’s better to make sure your host does drink before arriving with a bottle of alcohol. If you’re host doesn’t drink, take the chance to enjoy the Turkish tea (cay) and coffee (kahve).

It would also be wise to try and schedule meeting about the 5 praying times of the day and avoid traveling to Turkey in the month of Ramadan or on other national holidays. But if you’re there, don’t worry, all restaurants, shops and quite a few tourist attractions are still open, take the time to enjoy!

Topkapi Palace

Important Body Language Tips

Shaking our head to say “No” has a different meaning in Turkey: it shows you don’t understand what’s being explained to you. The actual “no” is a slight upward nod of the head while making a quick, sucking sound through your two front teeth (“tsk”), while “yes” is a slight downward nod of the head. Putting your thumb between your first two fingers is the equivalent to raising your middle finger in the United States, so try to avoid it. Also avoid the OK sign, as it means you’re saying someone is a homosexual and will offend those around you.

Personal Tip

Do not expect all Turks to speak English. Yes, most businessmen and women speak English perfectly, especially if they’re located in Istanbul, but be prepared to run into secretaries or executives who cannot speak this language. For such cases, German might be a good option, as there are a lot of German businesses in Turkey and a lot of Turks living in Germany or going to study there.

To find out more about the Turkish business etiquette, the online resources are unlimited. Here are a few free resources you can use to get ready to be successful in Turkey.

Do you have some experiences of your own that you’d like to share? Is there a particular tip you’ve read before visiting Turkey and found it extremely useful? Are some of the common beliefs about Turkey outdated and need to be changed? Please leave us a comment and let’s talk!

Help Us Pick the Next Country!

We’d like to keep writing on our Business etiquette series. After Japan and Turkey, what country would you like more details on? Just use the comment box to tell us what country you’re curious about. We’ll do the research and write an article about it!

There are a few challenges however. Strong competition is the most important one, the local companies’ great skills to adapt to what customers demand, their drive to stay connected with what they need and a long tradition of trading, negotiating and offering high class services only add to the list.

Istanbul Shops

So what do you need to learn to face your competition? A few things to get you started:

1. Prices are never fixed – yes, everything is negotiable! Actually, you will find a quite wide range of shops that have no prices listed. You have to ask the price of everything and the sales person will have the right answer. And even luxury shops selling diamond jewelry are open to negotiation.
2. Marketing tricks to catch the eye of the customers are commonplace: the buy one get one free offer for example – you can see 5 small shops selling the same thing and having the same price and same special offer. You need to fight a little for your customer! Talk to them, draw attention to yourself.
3. Any “star” currency will do it: From restaurants to people charging you the highway tax to electronics shops, most accept Euros, Pounds or Dollars. Don’t be picky when setting a price, money is money in the end and exchange offices are widespread.
4. Everyone takes care of the customers, from the owners, to the top managers and the rest of the employees. Sure, this depends on the size of the company, but who do you think will get return customers easier: those welcoming them to a cold corporate culture or those making them feel like hope, in touch with human beings.

All these are just a little something to get you started. Stay close as we will continue our insight in this fascinating country. By the way, a final trick: if you’re browsing a site and can’t find Turkey under Asia, try Europe, them being on both continents confuses a lot of people, even if the European side is quite tiny.

Mount Fiji, japan

Japan is one of the countries where doing business is a true art for any gaijin (foreigner). Everything follows a certain ritual, everything one thought is normal behavior isn’t, things generally considered impolite are subject to every day conversation. Learning enough about the Japanese culture to do business in this part of the world takes lots of time and dedication.

It all Starts with Harmony

Harmony is an important component of the Japanese culture. Ever since childhood, harmony is presented as an ultimate goal and everything else related to how people act emerges from this belief: the immense politeness they strive to show, the group mentality, the concern for the common not individual good and much more.

It is this sense of harmony that drives Japanese businessmen to try to please others and have such a hard time saying “no” to someone. Every denied request is dressed up and beautified so that those hearing the bad news could take it as lightly as possible.

Greetings

A few words in Japan won’t hurt and will show good will on your side. Also, forget the handshake and learn how to bow. Bows go as low as social standards require, and the lower you bow, the more respect you show. Generally, you should bow as low as the Japanese person in front of you.

Yokohama

If a Japanese man chooses to shake your hand, it will be a weak shake. Don’t judge character by it, you’ll end up being wrong. As for women, well, touching the other sex in public is a serious mistake.

Business Cards

If you want to start doing business in Japan, you’ll need new business cards. You’ll need a bilingual set (English and Japanese for example) and always give them with the side in Japanese facing the person you’ve met.

Business cards are the image of the person in front of you and have to be given the same respect as their owner. Given and received with both hands, you should place them in front of you carefully when in a meeting, or place them carefully on your shirt pocket or a card holder after thoroughly examining them. If a position is not clear to you, feel free to show interest and ask for details.

Meetings

Another important ritual to learn: how to behave on meetings. Remember the little importance given to individuality and expect to have group meetings, not one-on-ones. The position and power is extremely important in how individuals are seated. The most powerful person in the team you’ll meet will always be seated in the middle of the table, as far from the door as possible.

You’ll have to wait to be shown your seat and then you should stand by it until the highest in rank will ask you to sit down. If drinks are served, they will be poured according to each person’s status and you shouldn’t drink before the highest person in rank of the group you are talking to.

Learn not to get anxious if no one says anything, the Japanese like to enjoy their silent moments. And don’t rush to get to business; it may take several such meetings before any business is done. And it’s most likely you’ll be given a trial task to perform before anyone commits to a long term deal.

No matter how impossible a request might sound and although it might not bring any profit to you, never reject it. Try your best to complete it, as it’s probably just another test and all Japanese companies are really looking for long term deals.

Negotiations

While Japanese men avoid saying no, by no means do they accept everything offered to them. They might even say yes and mean the complete opposite. What they use? Body language, a very specific language that a foreigner has to learn to read. There have been books written on the matter, so it should be taken extremely seriously.

Japanese businessmen will always put the best offer on the table and certainly expect the same from their counterparts. Act accordingly and remember one important status detail: the buyer is always on a higher position than the seller.

Ramen Stand

If you have a signed contract at the end of your first round of negotiation that does not mean it is final. Contracts, although ever present and definitely required, are never final. They are subject to renegotiations as the Japanese like to solve all emerging problems by making use of maximum flexibility.

Appearance

The Japanese prefer conservative, stylish outfits to the casual style other countries have adopted. That’s why dark suits (black or dark blue) would be a great option for men. Women should also adopt a conservative style but replace pants with skirts on all occasions. Japanese men would otherwise be offended. Also, if you’re a tall woman, choose shoes carefully. You should drop the high heals as looking down on the men you’re talking to may also be found offensive.

Entertainment

The Japanese prefer all entertaining activities be scheduled after working hours and preferably in a bar or restaurant. Sometimes hostesses are involved, so if you’re a woman doing business there, make sure to skip such fun times. When it comes to picking the tab, insist to pay on all occasion, you’ll rarely get to, but your effort will be appreciated.

A rule of thumb would be that the person inviting also pays. But as we are talking about visitors to their country, the Japanese will probably consider it an exception to the rule.

If you’re ever invited to a Japanese house, consider it an extremely big honor and act accordingly. Remember to take off your shoes before entering and to properly place them afterwards. As in the case of business meetings, wait to be shown where to sit. When eating, slurping is something you should consider doing. Far from being impolite, it shows you’re really enjoying your food.

Offering Gifts

Gifts are extremely important in the Japanese business world. While the price is never really important, the wrapping is and they offering ceremony as well. Quality whiskey, brandy or wine, exquisite chocolates, something representing your country, all these will do. But when it comes to wrapping your presents, colors are really important and it’s better to have them wrapped at a Japanese store. If you brought the gift from abroad, then ask for suggestions from your Japanese contacts.

As it happens with business cards, gifts are given and received with both hands. If they are wrapped, they are never opened in the presence of those offering them. But if they are unwrapped, you should take your time and admire the gift, maybe also ask some questions about it. If the person giving you the gift insists on you opening it when it’s wrapped, you should grant them their wish.

Another important aspect when it comes to gifts is that the Japanese are not really keen on surprises. So think of offering the gift towards the end of the evening and make a few remarks during the meeting so that your host understands they are about to receive a gift.

Tokyo

Bad luck and death

There are numbers and colors that bring bad luck. Some, as the number four, are signs of bad luck because their pronunciation is close to the sound of words meaning death, others, as the color white and certain flowers, bring bad luck as they are used in burial ceremonies.

Before starting to attend meetings, you should allot some time to learning the don’ts of the Japanese culture.

These are just a few pointers, a glimpse to what you’re about to experience. There are dozens of online articles and books written on business etiquette in Japan. If you’re serious about doing business here, you should start learning more right a way. Start here, here, here or here. And when you think you’re ready, test yourself with this quiz!