In Company Upper intermediate Resource materials
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14a Flight to Rubovia
Paul Emmerson
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(Adapted from an exercise in ‘The Cross-Cultural Business Pocketbook’ by John Mattock)
You are on your first business trip to Rubovia. You board the flight and the cabin
crew and passengers are all speaking Rubovian. You don’t understand a word. A
Rubovian sits next to you and greets you in excellent English. Over the next few
hours you have a wonderful opportunity to find out about Rubovia and its culture.
What questions will you ask the friendly passenger at your side?
1
2
Write down four questions about general culture in Rubovia, and four about business culture.
When you have finished, read out your questions and listen to other people’s ideas.
General culture
Business culture
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1
2
2
3
3
4
4
Look at the sample questions at the bottom of the page. How many are similar to the questions
you thought of? Which questions would you ask if you only had time for ten questions in total?
fold
fold
General
How do you say ‘Hello’, ‘Please’, ‘Thank you’, ‘Sorry’,
‘Cheers’ and ‘Goodbye’ in Rubovian?
How do people greet each other, by shaking hands or
kissing?
What’s good to eat and drink?
Are there any religious taboos I should know about?
What are the common mistakes that foreigners make in
Rubovia?
What’s the population of Rubovia?
What’s the most popular sport?
What’s the geography of the country like?
Are there big regional differences inside the country?
How have things changed over the last ten years?
What do Rubovians think about my country?
What is everybody talking about at the moment?
Business
How should I address people? When do people use first
names?
Are personal relationships important in business?
How important are punctuality and deadlines?
Is decision-making quick and decisive, or slow and
cautious?
Is documentation important, or is ‘my word’ good
enough?
Is it normal to openly disagree with people in meetings?
If not, how should I show that I’m not happy with
something?
Do people continue the business discussion at lunch?
Is it expected that you offer a gift at the end of a visit?
If so, what is appropriate?
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In Company Upper intermediate Teacher’s Book © Macmillan Publishers Limited 2004
Teacher’s notes Flying to Rubovia
Overview
As an exercise in inter-cultural awareness, students think of questions to ask about the
culture of ‘Rubovia’ – an imaginary country. They compare with other students’ ideas,
and also with a set of given suggestions.
Preparation
One copy of the worksheet for each student with the bottom section of suggested
questions folded under.
Procedure
1 Before handing out the worksheets, read out the first line from the box: You are on
your first business trip to Rubovia. Pause and look up, waiting for students to realise
that it is an imaginary country. Perhaps play them along a little: You know, it’s next to
Kabalia.
2 When students realise that Rubovia is an imaginary country, continue reading the text
in the box, pausing at each full stop for dramatic effect and the students’ comments.
3 Hand out copies of the worksheet, with the bottom part folded under. Make sure the
students understand that they shouldn’t look at this part yet.
4 In pairs, students write their eight questions in the spaces provided. Make it clear that
there are no ‘right’ answers, and the point of the exercise is awareness-raising for doing
business in another culture.
5 Ask students to read out their questions to the class. (With larger classes, students can
do this stage in small groups.) Write any interesting questions on the board and
encourage discussion.
6 Ask students to look at the questions at the bottom of the page. Point out that these are
just suggestions, and are not necessarily better or worse than the students’ own ideas.
Again, encourage comments and discussion.
7 Regroup the students into new pairs/threes and ask them to choose the ten most
important/useful questions. If you have time, try to agree on the top ten questions