The response involves public diplomacy. One project involves work with Dubai-based group Young Arab Leaders (YAL) group to place Middle Easterners in U.S. corporations for internships. BDA also supported the World Citizens Guide for U.S. students studying abroad.

BDA fits well into a long tradition of castigating Americans' behavior abroad. Raising our awareness of what works and fails abroad -- watch those hand gestures! don't cross your legs like that! don't call your car "Nova" in Spanish-speaking countries! don't give Russians an even number of flowers! -- provides endless raw material for seminars, consultants, and feature stories.

Relatively little attention goes to the intricacies of dealing with the culture here in the U.S. We're so busy getting our knuckles rapped for our many sins abroad that we take for granted life in the U.S. and how it confounds foreigners.

In fact, plenty of books and seminars cover the basics of taking care of business in the U.S. What's second nature for us is a teachable subject for others, who are just as likely to appear ignorant, arrogant, and misinformed here as we are, over there.

Look at enough materials and the basic outline emerges of how to play the game here by American rules. Seeing the U.S. in this way is fascinating.

The perspectives range from the legal and accounting view (rarely heard) to direct cultural comparisons, this one of Mexico with the U.S. and Canada.

A group called Communicaid provides an excellent high-level discussion of what makes the U.S. tick. I found this intriguing because of the almost-explicit contrast it makes with practices elsewhere. Three key concepts of the U.S. individualism, low cultural context, and egalitarianism. Here's one discussion:

Low context culture - Generally speaking, those cultures described as low context tend to communicate meaning and information explicitly through words. Americans are task centred and thus the primary purpose of communication is to exchange information, facts, and opinions. In the US, conflict is dealt with directly and openly, and for this reason, Americans will not hesitate to say "no" or criticise others in public. This direct style of speech is often interpreted by foreign visitors as rude and may cause embarrassment to business people who are unaccustomed to such explicit communication. However, it is important to remember that in a business context it bears no relation to personal feelings and should not be taken as such.

After a while the advice available on the Internet becomes monotonous. Harder to find is an "inside baseball' view (to use an American sports cliche) that can make even an American stop and think, "Well, so that's what we do." Windows on the World provides extensive bullet points that show a deeper level of understanding. Excerpts from the book "Put Your Best Foot Forward" include:

Men: socks should match your suit. No leg should show between pant hem and shoe. Remove your hat when indoors.

Women: do not overdress for daytime or wear flashy or noisy jewelry. American women do not wear a lot of makeup to the office. Low-cut blouses, short skirts and tight clothing are not appropriate office attire.

It is very important to meet deadlines. If you tell someone that you will have a report to them by a certain date, or that you will fax something to them immediately, they will take you at your word. People who miss deadlines are viewed as irresponsible and undependable.

Meetings are generally informal and relaxed in manner, but serious in content. Often an agenda will be distributed before a meeting, so the participants will be prepared to discuss certain topics. A successful meeting is short and to the point. Be prepared to begin business immediately, with little or no prior small talk.

Meetings often end with a summary and an action plan for the participants to execute. A meeting is only considered successful if something concrete is decided.

Americans appreciate and are impressed by numbers. Using statistics to support your opinions will help you be persuasive.

Do not touch a woman in a business setting except to shake her hand. Hugging and kissing, even of people you know very well, is best left for social occasions.

The Economist publishes city guides for global business centers, including New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. They show a brief but astute understanding of regional variations in U.S. business cultures. For example,

Washington is a small town. People remember slights and gossip, and are not above revenge. John Breaux, a senator from Louisiana, when slighted by John Sununu, the elder George Bush's chief of staff, thundered, “He just stuck the wrong pig.” Avoid disparaging anyone behind his back: the city’s dense social, business and political networks are likely to carry offensive or excessively candid comments back.

Finally, most of the materials aim at an executive audience, taking meetings in glass enclosed conference rooms with fabled c-level executives. At least in public materials, relatively few show an understanding of the shop-floor, employee-level challenges of working in the U.S.

This thought came to me when I read a great front-page article in the Fairfield County Business Journal about Nara Venditti, who taught English to engineering students in Armenia before moving to the U.S. in 1990. Her story is well worth reading. The article states,

''I didn' t know what I didn' t know,' ' she said about her discovery that she knew little of American business ritual, etiquette and language. ''Employers didn't care if I could read Shakespeare in the original, they wanted me to read memos and talk with customers, to be understood.''

That meant she had to take a crash course in idioms, acronyms and metaphors. ''If you' re conducting business in the United States, you have to know what ' My plate is full 24/7' means. An entire sentence is like a code. ' Don' t jump the gun on the product rollout,' 'fall between the cracks,' 'stretched too thin,' 'back to square one,' 'ASAP,' 'FYI.' At the beginning, it's very confusing.''

And ''What is a resume? What is an interview? It took me a few years to understand that an interview has stages and that if you understand them, you can be more confident and successful. There' s the arriving stage where there is small talk. Then the interviewer will describe the company and the job. Then he or she will ask questions, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions. You have to know when to stand up, how to shake hands.

''It's a ritual, and if you don' t know the ritual, it doesn' t matter what qualifications you have. If you don' t present yourself in the proper way and articulate your accomplishments, the employer will think you' re not qualified.''

Venditti parlayed her inside knowledge of U.S. business language and culture into her own Danbury, Connecticut business, called Succeed in America. She holds workshops and seminars and has written two books, "How to Get a Job in the USA" and the intriguingly titled "Ameri$peak," for sale in her website. Venditti presents a very refreshing view of doing business in the U.S., useful for Americans as well as for newcomers who want to learn the kind of English that enables them to roll up their sleeves and play in the NFL.