Save up for a Rainy Day

I'd like to express my appreciation for "Communicating Across Culture", Toastmaster Magazine October issue 2005. It seemed to me that it was written for me. I felt a lot of sympathy with the remarks of Mr.Lee.

I sometimes go to China to install or modify machines as an electrical engineer. I write the meeting minutes, discuss with the staff at the end of the visit. I have an interpreter who translates into Chinese from Japanese for me. I sometimes receive the same questions again and again. So I wonder how much my customers and the interpreter understand what I say. I later realize that the interpreter can not explain technical terms well enough for attendees to understand me.

So I hand notes to the interpreter in advance at my last visit. And I explain to them in details with visual aids, including technical terms to the interpreter. It works very well. My trustworthy interpreter brings me a great success for my business.

The article of Mr.Lee is full of tips I still haven't practiced yet for my business. I shall apply them on my next trip to Thailand in November.
By Misao Inuzuka, Nagoya Toastmasters Club

Remarks from Sherry: Misao wrote to LETTERS of Toastmaster Magazine, but didn't get accepted two years ago. So I invite Misao to share his letter on the blog. I should follow Misao's steps to send a letter to the Toastmaster Magazine.