Expatriates be warned. As Mary Kissel of CareerJournalEurope.com points out, 'same language' doesn't necessarily mean 'same culture'.

When my boss at a large investment bank asked me if I'd like to transfer to London, I was ecstatic. A well-travelled colleague echoed my enthusiasm:" You'll love it! It's just like the U.S., but more interesting," she exclaimed. I took the job.

In London a few weeks later, I started to have doubts. While bemusedly watching black cabs and red double-decker buses drive on the "wrong" side of the street from my apartment, a cramped Fleet Street "flat," I felt unnerved. This English-speaking place didn't look or feel like home to me. And as soon as work started, I realized that I'd launched myself into a foreign culture where I knew little of the lingo, office protocols and social conventions.

My ill-informed overconfidence wasn't unique, as I soon learned from conversations with fellow American expatriates. Workplaces in foreign countries can feel eerily similar to U.S. offices. English is often the lingua franca, and if you're lucky enough to transfer jobs within a large corporation, the business culture may seem reassuringly familiar. Don't be fooled, however. While you may recognize aspects of your new work environment, it isn't the same as the one you left behind. The workplace can be especially tricky to navigate if you're in an English-speaking country.

American expatriates in particular tend to have problems working in English-speaking countries, says Mary Gowan, a professor of management science at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who trains students on the ins and outs of working abroad. They tend to be overconfident about how well they'll fare but after arriving, find they're unprepared for the situations they face, she says.

She cites sensitivity to the culture as a major determinant of success in a foreign country. "Sometimes it's easier to identify challenges [when] sending an expat to Japan than somewhere like England or Australia," she notes wryly.

The problems often start with the language. Although your colleagues may speak English, their words and phrases may not carry the same emphasis or meaning as they do in the U.S.

For instance, it took me a while to understand what my boss in London meant when she said "well done." At times it meant "great" (as it does in the U.S.), but if she used different body language or intonations, it meant could also signify "not bad," or "oops, can you try that again?" (That's another twist, says Dr. Gowan. "Learn to read both the 'verbal' and 'nonverbals' of the people around you," she notes. "Recognize that nonverbals are different in other countries.")

Similar challenges may surface in English-speaking parts of Asia. In one of the most commonly referenced books on cross-cultural communication, "Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands" (Adams Media Corp., 1994), author Terri Morrison offers insights into the English spoken in Hong Kong: "The word 'yes' does not necessarily mean "I agree with you,' " she writes. "A closer meaning would be 'I heard you.' "(That's an important distinction when you're coordinating a project with colleagues or, say, negotiating a salary increase with your boss.)

Then there is the famed British reserve. American expats often expect more warmth from the British because they perceive them to be like fellow Americans...but they're not.

If you remain unconvinced or think that such "cultural" sensitivity is a puffed-up form of political correctness, take my advice: Don't ignore it. Communicating with colleagues in your new locale is just as important to your career advancement abroad as it is in the U.S. While learning to work effectively abroad is challenging, it isn't impossible. Here's some advice from experts on adapting to English-speaking cultures:

• Recognize that there will be cultural differences. The first step to fitting into an English-speaking workplace abroad is to realize that there is a cultural difference, even if it's not fully apparent when you arrive, says Mark Brown, director of management communications at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in Durham, N.C. "People who speak English seem like other kinds of you," he says. "But there are huge gaps."

• Learn the local lingo. The best way to learn the catchphrases and meanings of your colleagues' English is simply to watch and listen, says Mr. Brown. "Lingo is a shorthand of who's in and who's out." Additionally, curb your U.S. business lingo. "There's a tendency for Americans to speak in action terms and clichés," he notes, recalling the buzzwords and sports metaphors often used by American business-school graduates. ("People sometimes call an M.B.A. the "Master's in Being American," he jokes.)

• Be patient and open to new experiences. Don't expect to figure out the nuances of your office within a week -- it will undoubtedly take you much longer to get settled. The more open you seem to learning about your adopted country's culture, the more likely it is that you'll develop a sense of trust with your colleagues. "Once you have that relationship, you have leeway," says Christine Grosse, an expert in English business communication at Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Ariz. "Attitude is so important."

• Take advantage of your company's resources. Many companies provide cultural training for employees about to embark on a career abroad. (Small and midsize firms often outsource these functions.) Don't discount cultural education -- it may come in handy, particularly when you least expect it. And above all, says GWU's Dr. Gowan, tap into your colleagues' experiences: "If you know people who have been abroad before, talk to them about places to go to learn the culture and learn the ropes," she advises.

• Do your own research. Internet sites aplenty offer advice on living and working abroad. Expatexchange.com, for instance, offers a variety of resources and is a good place to start. Be warned, however, that many Web sites are specific to a particular country, so you may have to search to find what you need. (In Europe, try expatica.com; in Asia, shanghai.asiaxpat.com, which lists more than 120 expat clubs and associations in the region.)

  In addition to "Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands," which gives short tips on cultural themes in 60 countries, good reference books include Dean Allen Foster's "Bargaining Across Borders" (McGraw-Hill, 1995), which helps with cross-border-negotiation techniques, and Robert Axtell's "Gestures" (John Wiley & Sons, 1998), an entertaining account of body language worldwide.

January 2004