Interview With a Tourist
Intercultural Communication Interview
Prepare for your interview ahead of time. Find a person to interview who is living in your country as a temporary visitor, such as a tourist or a student from another country who will return home after a short period of time. Consider the culture of this person and if the questions you plan to ask might be offensive in some way. Consider the discomfort you might feel if you were from a different culture and someone asked you these questions. Be sensitive as you do the interview to the other person’s discomfort. Are your questions clear and understandable to him or her? Is your accent easy to understand? Is your word choice appropriate? When you are ready to begin, start by introducing yourself, and then very politely say something like…
“Thank you for allowing me to interview you for my Intercultural Communication class. I have some questions that will guide our discussion, but feel free to add any information you feel will help me understand your perspective as a person from a culture different than the one I have experienced, living in my culture for most of my life. First, may I have your permission to quote you in my paper? If so, please tell me how to spell your name correctly and tell me the correct title I should use for you.”
What is your home country?
What is the dominant language? What other languages do you speak?
What are some common gestures, sounds, or symbols that others would need to know if they wanted to communicate with people in your culture?
Have you noticed any gestures in your host country that you consider rude?
How long have you been in your host country?
How well do you speak its primary language?
How have business people treated you?
Do you feel like people in general welcome you to the host culture?
What are some examples of positive or negative responses you have received?
How are decisions made in your culture? If a parent or elder typically makes decisions at home, how difficult has it been for you here to have to make decisions independently?
Do people treat you better or worse in the host culture than in your own culture based on your age, gender, or marital status?
How do people dress in your culture?
What do you think about the way people dress in your host culture?
What are some things about your culture that you wish other people knew so that they would communicate with you better?
What is the thing you miss most about your home culture while you are away?
What surprised you most about your host culture?
What adjustments did you have to make to feel comfortable in your host culture?
What do you think you would miss most about this country when you return to your country?
When people return to their home country, if they have been gone for a long time, they often experience a surprising culture shock called “re-entry” culture shock. What do you think will shock you about returning home?
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