Do you speak Internet? - Focus on International HR - includes related articles on use of short and plain sentences and on e-mail etiquette

HR Magazine, April, 1999 by Nancy Hatch Woodward

International Conversions

The date and time are not the same everywhere on earth, so be sure to convert the date and time of your message to your recipient's time zone. Also include the conversion for any currency or financial figures mentioned in your correspondence.

Contact Information

As with all your professional correspondence, provide any available contact information. Be sure to include international extensions on telephone numbers.

Humor/Sarcasm

Different cultures have different values. Be overly cautious when using jokes or that "dry wit" everyone at the office admires in your correspondence. You never can tell what the reaction to your punch line will be overseas. Keep your messages brief and to the point and you won't have to worry about bad jokes creeping into your documents.

Ethnocentrism

This refers to thinking of one's own culture or nation as superior to others due to lack of knowledge (or ignorance) of other cultures. It has been the experience that Americans are more commonly guilty of ethnocentrism than other cultures on the Internet. If you are swapping e-mail with Czechoslovakians and start raving about the First Amendment, they aren't going to have the foggiest notion of what an amendment has to do with anything. Remember to speak in an international context in your correspondence, and provide a small amount of background material whenever you refer to culturally specific people, places or events.

- Dark Mountain's International Netiquette Guide (www.darkmountain.com)

Nancy Hatch Woodward is a freelance writer based in Chattanooga, Tenn., and a frequent contributor to HR Magazine. She can be reached at Hatchwood@aol.com.