Many in the VidaMaz community are bilingual and bicultural, and many others aspire to be. Francisco Santana has a new Udemy course entitled, This is Mexico: Living and Working with Mexicans that he has offered to give to VidaMaz readers for free if you click this link in the next 72 hours. Once you register, you can complete the course at your leisure. As payment he requests you to rate the course.

I have just taken the course and believe it is a very worthwhile way to spend an hour or two. It communicates to the learner some of the fundamental concepts of intercultural communication in a simple, clear, affordable and easy way. Francisco covers a lot of territory, summarizing key things to remember concisely. He is careful to say things like, “generally speaking” or “Mexicans have a tendency,” in order to avoid stereotyping and overgeneralizing the huge diversity that is this country.

The course contains some outdated constructs, such as the use of the iceberg as a metaphor for culture—which its creator Bob Kohls himself hated in his later career, and the overly-used and overly-conceptual “dimensions of culture”— which are useful as pieces of knowledge but aren’t especially helpful at improving skill. It’s at this point the course started to feel like a lecture and became quite slow for me.

The “Living with Mexicans” section will be the most helpful to most VidaMaz readers, I believe. There are some very salient points that can go unnoticed if you’re not careful, such as this line, “Mexicans have never been obsessed with planning for the future,” or Francisco’s contention that Mexican friendships tend to be based on mutual need—a very different dynamic than friendship elsewhere in the world. I found it particularly interesting and valuable to look at friendship in a historical context. Francisco’s explanations of Mexican humor, the “mañana” mentality and use of excuses to avoid disappointing people will also be salient and helpful for many; there are many gems in this section, from which we could learn more deeply for hours.

I fully support expats integrating into and participating in the local community as much as we can, and I hope this short course, available to you now for free, might help you. It is well presented and very accurate, in my experience. Here is Francisco’s course description:

By knowing where people’s values and beliefs come from you can learn to expect and predict their behavior, and then, you will be on your way to a successful cultural adjustment. The Mexican culture is rich in customs, traditions and intriguing behavioral patterns; and this one-of-its-kind course offers you the opportunity to dive into the very roots of the Mexican way of life.

The curriculum and practical activities are carefully designed for:

• Expats (retirees, executives, foreign service employees)
• Foreign students
• Foreign investors and import/export professionals
• Travelers
• Enthusiasts of the Mexican culture

What you’ll learn

• The fundamentals of culture
• Key values and attitudes of the Mexicans
• The roots of the Mexicans behavioral patterns
• Mexicans communication patterns
• Social and business manners in Mexico
• Management and negotiation style in Mexico

Are there any course requirements or prerequisites?

• Interest in learning more about Mexico and the Mexicans

Who this course is for:

• Executives in an international assignment in Mexico
• Expats retired or considering retiring in Mexico
• Leisure and business travelers
• Current or future foreign exchange students
• Entrepreneurs and business seeking to negotiate with Mexicans
• Current or future foreign service officers assigned in Mexico

Content is comprised of six sections, each with a video, activity and quiz:

1. Introduction
2. Culture and human behavior
3. Roots of Mexican cultural identity (history of Mexico)
4. Living with Mexicans: Traditions, values and attitudes (family, friendship, courtesy, helping others, humor, Day of the Dead, concept of mañana, excuses, bribery)
5. Working with Mexicans: Management and negotiation (leadership and management, perception of time and space, communication patters, negotiation and meetings)
6. Case analysis (interviews with four young adult expatriates living in Mexico—a Dane, a German, a Finn and a Czech)

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think! Kudos to Francisco for creating this method for helping expats and visitors to better understand and partner with our Mexican hosts!