Business Communication and Character

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U.S. Languages and Immigrants

Microsoft announced that Skype will now offer translation for people using the video-chat tool. This is good news for people who want to connect in different languages.

The map, below, shows languages spoken within the United States after English and Spanish. You may find some surprises here.

  Languages Spoken in the U.S. After English and Spanish

In related news, a recent Business Insider article includes a 2010 U.S. map compared to a 1910 map, showing where immigrants come from, mostly commonly Mexico today. The map, based on Pew research, gives us an interesting perspective on cultural diversity within the United States. 

Population map

Discussion Starters:

  • What, if anything, surprises you about the data? 
  • How does this information affect business communication? What effect does it have on your own thinking about how you communicate with people?