When I was living in China, I learned to make things hyper-explicit because often they were being read by people whose command of English kept them from picking up what I thought were obvious signals.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of clear communication, especially in a multicultural context where language barriers exist.
James Fallows reflects on his experience living in China, highlighting the need for hyper-explicit communication when speaking or writing in English to individuals who may not fully grasp the language. This underscores the idea that assumptions about shared understanding can lead to miscommunication, particularly when cultural and linguistic differences are present. By making messages clearer, one can ensure better comprehension and avoid misunderstandings.
In practice
In a multicultural team meeting, I used this quote to stress the importance of clear communication.
For the record, I am sticking with my claim that the simultaneous degradation of air quality, water quality, water supply, food safety, soil quality, and other environment-related variables is the main challenge to China's continued development.
And with a practice of writing comes a certain important integrity. A culture filled with bloggers thinks differently about politics or public affairs, if only because more have been forced through the discipline of showing in writing why A leads to B.
To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the others.
My education was neglected, yet I was passionately fond of reading.
Books are the windows through which the soul looks out.
People think of black English as ungrammatical, but it bears the same relationship to standard English as contemporary Hebrew does to ancient Hebrew.
Travel is rich with learning opportunities, and the ultimate sourvenir is a broader perspective.
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