1. Tolerate ambiguity. Communicating with strangers creates uncertainty, and when the stranger also comes from a different culture, we can become anxious about what he or she will expect of us. When communicating, we must be prepared to tolerate a high degree of uncertainty about the other person and to tolerate it for a long time. If you enter an intercultural interaction believing that it is OK to be unsure about how to proceed, you are likely to pay closer attention to the feedback you receive. You can then work to adjust your communication to demonstrate respect and to achieve mutual understanding.

When Jerome read the Partner Assignment List posted outside the lab, he discovered that his lab partner, Meena, was an exchange student from Mumbai. Over the semester, Jerome worked hard to attune his ear to Meena’s accent and Meena worked hard to understand him. As it turned out, Jerome was really happy to have Meena as a partner. She really had a much better grasp of chemistry than he did, and tutored him as they worked on assignments. Meena didn’t mind tutoring Jerome because he demonstrated genuine respect for both her cultural values and her intelligence.