Leonoras, Denisse Gaille T.

September 07, 2020

Purposive Communication BE – 1A
PCOM_G
(Module 2:1.3 Explore: Learning Task #1, An Expat’s Confession)
Instructions: An expat or expatriate is a non-Filipino person who is temporarily residing in the
Philippines for business, work, or study purposes. Find one in your neighborhood or ask a friend
who knows an expat to intrduce you to him/her ad get in touch with the expat, preferably via FB
Messenger, email, or SMS. Interview the expat about his/her experiences in communicating with
Filipinos. If you should do a face-to-face interview, please observe social distancing. If possible,
do the interview via Messenger chat or video call.

Expat’s Name (Optional): Rainbow Lim Nationality: Singaporean

Age: 26 years old Sex: Female First Language: English

Question No.1: From your encounters with Filipinos, what have you learned about the way they express
themselves verbally and non-verbally?
“I feel that Filipinos are very expressive non-verbally, at least towards me, always smiling
with warm and straightforward body language that shows affection and interest. Similarly, I find
Filipinos expressive verbally; most of the Filipinos I meet are talkative and open and willing to
connect in conversation.”
Question No. 2: What was the most challenging part of communicating with Filipinos, particularly in the English
language?
“A lot of Filipinos that I know speaks of a combination of Tagalog and English, adding
Tagalog vocabulary or endings to their sentences, like “naman” and “po.” It takes a while for me to
understand these endings, even with explanations, and I still can’t fully understand the extent of their
nuances.”
Question No. 3: Have ever experienced miscommunication with a Filipino? How did you deal with it?

“A miscommunication I had with a Filipino friend would be when I was actively trying to
look out for and protect her from dating a guy whom I thought wasn’t a good guy, and she
misunderstood my intentions and thought that I negatively saw her as naïve and gullible. I didn’t really
deal with it in any special way, but I tried to show her more are and concern to let her know that it
wasn’t true.
Post-interview Reflection: What major insights did you get from
this interview?

The essence of cross-cultural communication in this fast-paced and

globalized world has been an important skill in understanding and
dealing with a variety of people. The traditions, norms, and rules unique to a culture affect the way how
their people communicate. Therefore, it is essential to equip and acquaint ourselves with these cultural
differences to ensure effective communication.
Based on my interview with Miss Rainbow, I have proven that we, Filipinos, are indeed
hospitable even in the way we communicate with other nationalities. It is a norm to say our greetings,
and to either wave or smile to a foreigner even when we don’t personally know them. This is what I
have observed when Miss Rainbow came to our school almost three years ago. She, together with her
fellow missionaries, received a very warm welcome from everyone. This form of politeness, verbally
and non-verbally
shown, has been etched into our minds to make friends with strangers and let them feel that they belong
to our country.
However, no matter how hospitable and respectful we are, there will still be instances when
miscommunication and other communication barriers hinder our relationship with other nationalities.
Yes, they may adapt to our culture but the diversity of the Filipino language may be a lot to take in. Just
like how Singaporeans use the slang terms “alamak” and “lah” to express emphasis, we also have our
terms and slang languages that foreigners find it hard to understand. Thankfully, Miss Rainbow’s first
language is English so she didn’t have so many difficulties in dealing with the way we communicate,
except for some unique Filipino words.
Lastly, understanding and having prior knowledge about the cultures, traditions, and behaviors
of other nationalities will likely save us from having miscommunication with them. Although
intercultural conflicts are inevitable, we still have to be more adaptive and understanding our
differences. Learning how to be critical in choosing the appropriate discussion, engagement, and
accommodations styles will help us resolve various intercultural conflicts. More importantly, having
friends coming from different races and cultures will help us in becoming better in recognizing
communication behaviors, improving our verbal and nonverbal communication, and adapting to a new
environment.