Avoid Travel Faux Pas With Dean Foster's 'CultureGuide' Apps

STUDIO CITY (CBS) — It's hard enough not to misstep when dealing with your own culture. So, how are we expected to navigate the unknown pitfalls of a different culture? Travel expert Dean Foster stopped by KCAL9 Thursday to talk about proper travel etiquette.

For over 20 years, Foster has been sharing his cultural knowledge with Fortune 500 companies such as DreamWorks, Volkswagen, Heineken, and Bank of America, training businessmen in the cultural differences they encounter in our global world.

His latest venture in his effort to foster cultural learning is a cutting-edge mobile application for both iPhone and Android phones that will become your first stop on your global travels for critical intercultural information. His CultureGuide series of apps offer practical, fun and immediately usable tips for getting the most out of a trip – whether it is for business, pleasure or both.

Each CultureGuide app focuses on a specific country. To date there are ten apps available –one each for China, Japan, India, Dubai, Brazil, Kenya, Ireland, Turkey, Italy, Germany with many more going live shortly.

The apps cover everything from a country overview and greetings to how to behave when invited to a private home and gift giving etiquette.

The Words and Phrases section contains dozens of terms for use in greetings and conversations; names of people and occupations; common expressions; and standard business terms. All words and phrases can be saved to a favorites list for even faster reference.

All content lives on your device for fast retrieval and easy use of standard tools like Notes, Favorites, Copy and Paste to create your own reference list. The CultureGuide even offers useful Web-accessed tools along with the extensive content: maps, up-to-the-minute weather reports and currency exchange rates making your trip more productive, enriching and exciting.

For more information on Dean Foster and the CultureGuide, click here.