absolutely intercultural!

Modern Values and Religion +++ Marriage +++ Fasting +++ Progressive vs Conservative +++ Absolutely Intercultural 313

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 313 of our podcast Absolutely Intercultural. Our topic today is one that touches the core of many societies: “Are modern values diluting religion?” We live in a time of rapid change, where new social norms often clash with centuries-old traditions. Does this mean faith is watering down, or is it simply evolving? Today, we will hear from three guests with very different perspectives on whether modern life and traditional belief can coexist.

As always, here at Absolutely Intercultural, everyone is free to think and say absolutely anything. However, we understand that today’s topic might stir up strong emotions. If you feel triggered by any of the opinions shared, please feel free to take a short break.

In our first story, absolutely faithful, we will listen to Matthias, a student and coach who believes modern values are indeed diluting religion. He argues that faith provides necessary direction but admits that fitting traditional values into today’s world is a struggle.

In our second story, absolutely secular, we will hear from Oleksii, a student who transitioned from believer to atheist. He shares why he doesn’t need religion, fasting, or prayer to be a good person, yet he maintains a deep respect for those who do believe.

In our last story, absolutely inclusive, we will listen to Louisa. She challenges the idea that modern values dilute religion. Instead, she focuses on marriage and the LGBT community, arguing that the Church must adapt its rules to be more just and inclusive.

In our first story, absolutely faithful, we have Matthias. Matthias is a student but, and for him, the dilution of religion by modern values is a real concern. He believes that believing in God is essential and that the Catholic Church is doing a good job guiding people.

What about you? Do you think modern values are a threat to religion, or are they saving it from becoming irrelevant? We’d love to hear your stories! You can leave a comment, send us an email, or even reach out for a follow-up interview.

On our web page, absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too.

Our next show will be coming to you on 2 January from Anne Fox in Denmark. Until then – Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Lorena Peposhi (Albanian)

Chief Editor: Oleksii Tsapenko (Ukrainian)
Assistant Editor: Lorena Peposhi (Albanian), Eltun Khudiev (Azerbaijani)

DEI +++ Verónica Higareda +++ authenticity +++ Absolutely Intercultural 312

absolutely poetic
This show is about DEI, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and in a first for the podcast, we’ll go absolutely poetic and start with a poem.
The book, in which this poem by Alan Maley appeared, is available free of charge from the British Council. It’s called Integrating global issues in the creative English language classroom .

Verónica Higareda, based in the Basque Country and originally from Califonia, is a DEI and Equity-Centered Behavior Management Consultant and an ELT educator with over 20 years of experience. Click here to find out more.

absolutely profitable
Let’s find out more about why DEI is absolutely profitable.

absolutely authentic
In this next segment we’ll breakdown the components of DEI and hear about different ways in which teachers can bring it to the classroom. In the end it’s all about enabling everyone involved to be their authentic selves so let’s go absolutely authentic.

absolutely trained
Verónica wants to help teachers make this happen in the classroom so I asked her to tell us more about her upcoming course. How are teachers to become absolutely trained?

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is about reflection and dialogue, it’s about enabling everyone to bring their authentic selves to the classroom or work. If diversity is the science (of metrics) then inclusion is the art, and equity means equal access.In the classroom it is about providing mirrors, so you see yourself, and windows, so you see others. Thanks to Veronica for telling us more about this topical idea.
What about you? Do you bring your authentic self to work or school? What would make that easier? If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment on our website where you can also listen to all our previous shows.

We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you, as usual, on the first Friday of next month.
Until then, stay tuned!

Produced by Anne Fox

Between Support and Struggle +++ Transgender People +++ Gender Identity +++ Misunderstandings +++ Absolutely Intercultural 311

Our topic today is about “gender”, the way in which persons recognize and identify themselves. Traditionally you could only identify as a man or as a woman. Today, however, we will focus on transgender people. A transgender person is a “transitioning person”, someone who does not feel comfortable with the gender they have been assigned at birth. As always, here on our Absolutely Intercultural podcast everyone is absolutely free to think and say absolutely everything they feel, but we understand that today’s topic might be a little unsettling for some listeners.

Disclaimer: Be warned, this topic may cause brain heat 😉 and may trigger strong emotions in sensitive individuals. Try to keep calm and keep, above all, your sense of humour 😉 If any allergic symptoms arise during listening, we recommend a short break, perhaps a walk around the block and if symptoms persist to rinse off excess arguments with a shower ;-)

In our first story, “absolutely myself”, we will listen to Levi, a transgender man. A transgender man is someone born as a female, who realizes he does not identify himself as a woman, but rather as a man. He has a lot of first-hand experience to share with us, talking about challenges that transgender people face, tips on how to handle the topic and stories related to his transitioning experience.

In our second story, “absolutely struggling”, we will listen to Tea, a lecturer from Albania, who will share stories regarding her encounters with transgender students in the academic setting. She admits it’s still challenging, especially since she doesn’t have enough exposure to this topic. She shares how these moments feel in the classroom, how she handled making “mistakes”, and why she believes it’s important to keep on learning, even when the topic feels uncomfortable.

In our last story, “absolutely concerned”, we will listen to Alex, who shares a different perspective on the topic and raises an important concern about exposing people to this subject. Alex is a little concerned and asks himself: What if the transitioning person regrets their choice later in life?

What about you? What do you think about transgender people? Do you think society should adjust to their needs and change laws to make their transition easier and faster? We’d love to hear your stories! Feel free to share your opinion with us here on the podcast. You can leave a comment, send us an email, or even reach out for a follow-up interview in one of our next shows.

Write a comment or mail us, we could do a follow-up interview with you in one of our next shows. On our web page, absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes, and you can leave comments. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too.

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you from Anne Fox in Denmark on November 7

Until then –

Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Michele Varvara (Italian)

Chief Editor: Michele Varvara (Italian)
Assistant Editor: Era Meço (Albanian), Oleksii Tsapenko (Ukrainian)

eco-anxiety +++ Harry Waters +++ ELT +++ positive anger +++ absolutely intercultural 210 +++

You thought you were signing up for an English class and the teacher wants to persuade you to become a change maker. Could this be a way of coping with eco-anxiety? But are there any limits on what you can do in an educational setting?

Welcome to show number 310 of absolutely intercultural. My name’s Anne Fox and I’ve been talking to Harry Waters, a teacher in Spain about using English teaching to connect it with sustainability.

absolutely heroic
First I wanted to find out why Harry does that and then I asked him about the book, Activities for a Greener Mindset” which he wrote to share his ideas more widely with other teachers.

absolutely legal
It occurred to me that some of the activities Harry was proposing may not be received equally enthusiastically everywhere so let’s go, absolutely legal.

absolutely emotional
The reason I got in touch with Harry in the first place was that I had heard him talk about harnessing the power of emotion in his sustainability work. You may have heard that eco-anxiety is a thing but Harry interprets it much more widely than that so let’s go absolutely emotional.

So, are you using your anger for good? Are you a change maker and if so, where did that come from? If you want more ideas then I suggest looking through Harry’s book, Activities for a Greener Mindset: Integrating sustainable learning in the ELT classroom. There’s a free sample on the publisher’s website. Also don’t forget to check out the Climate Mental Health Network website. You can also leave us a comment here.

If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment on our website where you can also listen to all our previous shows.

We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you, as usual, on the first Friday of next month, October 3rd.
Until then, stay tuned!

Produced by Anne Fox

Fahad Siddiqui +++ Razia Sultana +++ Young Trees +++ Bambu +++ Absolutely Intercultural 309 +++

This question about male and female leadership styles is prompted by a female Indian sultan who ruled from 1236. Welcome to Show 309 of Absolutely Intercultural, the show about all things intercultural. Today I’m very happy to be talking once again with Fahad Siddiqui who I last spoke to in 2023 about his plan to teach children about amazing historical figures from all around the globe. So how have children been reacting to stories about the world’s richest man or Razia Sultana, the Indian Sultan?

absolutely successful
Fahad’s company, which is now called Young Trees, has many different aspects including children’s books, a commitment to sharing profits and now a lesson planning tool for teachers, so this was a chance for me to catch up with how things were going and also to ask about the latest book and the new AI tool. So in our first segment, absolutely successful, I asked Fahad how the untold stories of ancient heroes had gone down with teachers and children.

absolutely timely
One reason that Young Trees has several strands is that they are concerned about both the long and the short term; the long term is the effect of the books, while the short term includes their partnership with the charity CamFed in order to achieve immediate benefit. In our next segment, absolutely timely, I started by asking Fahad about what he hoped the effect of his books would be on his young readers by the time they got to young adulthood?

absolutely engaging
As I was looking through the new Young Trees website, I was very interested to see their new lesson planner tool, Bambu which is focused on creating offline learning experiences. So I asked Fahad about this in our final segment, absolutely engaging.

What about you? Who are your historical heroes? Are they mostly from your own country? Have any of them shaped your thinking about for example, male and female roles? If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment here where you can also listen to all our previous shows. We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you, as usual, on the first Friday of next month, September 5th.

Until then, stay tuned!

Produced by Anne Fox

Switzerland +++ EU unemployment support +++ job hunting +++ Absolutely Intercultural 308 +++

A battered Danish postbox — One of the 1500 remaining dilapidated Danish postboxes waiting to be removed by the end of 2025.

Welcome to Absolutely Intercultural, the podcast about all things intercultural, even unexpectedly scented toilet paper! My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark, where Mia, who we’ll be hearing more from, also originates. We’ll be talking to Mia about how she was able to get some financial support to go to Switzerland to look for a job, what it’s like looking for a job when you don’t speak the local language and finally some of the little differences that she noticed between Denmark and Switzerland, like scented toilet paper.

absolutely transferable
So we’ll start by talking about a scheme that has been going for decades but which I have a feeling very few people know about and which may not even have an official name. And that is the EU scheme that allows you to transfer three months worth of unemployment benefit, if you are entitled to it in your home country, to another EU country. But how does it work in practice? It is clear that it is not easy dealing with the bureaucratic rules in two different countries at the same time. You may have spotted that Switzerland is not in the EU, but since it is in the European Economic Area, the scheme also applies there.

absolutely job hunting
Having worked out the administrative challenges to be part of the transfer scheme, Mia’s next challenge was actually finding a job. So how did that go? That point when Mia started networking in addition to sending in job applications was key and she is now working for a global company where the working language is English.

absolutely intercultural
We’ll end by asking Mia about the little differences she’s noticed between Denmark and Switzerland. The iconic Danish post boxes are disappearing at the end of 2025 so the digital way of life is totally embedded.

Have you tried job hunting in a new country? Maybe you have some tips? If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment on our website where you can also listen to all our previous shows. We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you, as usual, on the first Friday of next month.

Until then, stay tuned!

Produced by Anne Fox

Cultural celebrations +++ Misunderstood traditions +++ Different holidays +++ Disappointing experiences +++ Absolutely Intercultural 307

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 307 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”.

Do you feel that the New Year celebration is too “boring” for you? Have you ever asked yourself if there’s a more vibrant holiday to celebrate instead of Halloween? Do you feel that something like Woman’s Day is “too political”? Then today’s episode is for you! Imagine spending a holiday in a foreign country and realizing that they celebrate it in a completely different way, and suddenly a familiar celebration is not so familiar anymore. It can be surprising discovering different celebrations in the world, and while some people like the alternative, that’s not always the case. People can also find the new festivals to be boring. In today’s episode, we explore how the same holidays and celebrations can be experienced in very different ways depending on the cultural context. What makes these shared events feel so unique from one country to another? Why do some people find a particular celebration meaningful and festive, while others might find it uneventful or even strange? Our interviewees will share personal stories and perspectives on how they celebrate their holidays in unfamiliar ways here in Germany.

absolutely misunderstood

In our first story, we will listen to Alvaro, who talks about “Dia de los Muertos”, a Southern-American celebration where people commemorate the dead around the same time as Halloween. He used to celebrate Halloween in Germany when he was a child, and he thinks that people who say that “Dia de los Muertos” is sad or morbid are just wrong.

absolutely disappointing

In our second story, we will listen to Nahidur, who talks about “Bengali New Year”, a new year celebration based on the Bengali calendar, a solar calendar used in the Indian subcontinent. Bengali New Year is celebrated in April, and he mentions how the western new year is boring compared to the Bengali one.

absolutely changing

In our last story, we will listen to Rozana, talking about Albanian Woman’s Day. In Albania, Woman’s Day is actually celebrated with parties, where women get their day to shine. Only recently it started to become more dedicated to gender parity and to promote women’s rights, due to global influence, and Rozana herself was surprised when she first discovered how different it was outside of her home country.

What about you? Do you also celebrate the same occasions differently? Do you think you do it better? We’d love to hear your stories! Feel free to share your opinion with us here on the podcast. You can leave a comment, send us an email, or even reach out for a follow-up interview in one of our next shows.

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you from Anne Fox in Denmark on 4th July.

Until then – Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Michele Varvara (Italian)

Assistant Editor: Era Meço (Albanian)

Power in language +++ Critical pedagogy +++ Spectators +++ Taboo Topics +++ Absolutely Intercultural 306

Rose Aylett

Welcome to absolutely intercultural show 306. My name’s Anne Fox, and this show is coming to you from Denmark.

Today’s show may make you look back at conversations that you’ve had, interactions that you’ve witnessed, and materials you may have used in the classroom. I’ll be talking to Rose Aylitt, who supports teachers all over the world, both face to face and online, to help them help their students to become global citizens.

absolutely powerful

Rose Aylitt is a teacher trainer who works internationally, and recently she developed a new course for the Norwich Institute of Language Education on helping teachers support their students to become global citizens. We’ll be talking about how you can use language to project or not power.

absolutely just

We’ll also hear about how art forms such as theatre can be used to help people recognize the many ways that a conversation could go. Rose talks about Auguste Boal and his theater of the oppressed.

absolutely taboo

And then we’ll ask the question about whether there are any topics that we should not discuss in the classroom.

Thanks to Rose for sharing some of her strategies and thanks to you for listening. If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment on our website where you can also listen to all our previous shows. We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating.

Our next show will be coming to you from Laurent Borgmann in Germany on 6th June.

Until then, stay tuned!

Culture Wars +++ Food Cultures +++ Vegetarianism +++ Food Choices +++ Absolutely Intercultural 305

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 305 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today’s topic is “culture wars” and more specifically “fights between different food cultures”! There are those who decide to not eat a specific category of food perhaps because of health reasons or for ethical reasons, and things can escalate pretty quickly when food is the main topic at the table. Words like “vegan” or “vegetarian” are used to categorize some of those people who may be different from us: a “vegan”, for example, is someone who refuses to eat anything related to animals: meat, fish, eggs, milk, even honey. Today the focus will be around this life-changing decision, how choosing to limit yourself to not eat a certain kind of food can drastically change your usual interactions with friends and family.

absolutely vegetarian

In our first story, we will listen to Natalia, a dedicated vegetarian. A vegetarian doesn’t eat meat, or seafood like grilled fish, but does eat animal products like milk or eggs. Today Natalia is sharing with us her journey and the challenges she faces in a world that often prioritizes meat-based diets. Natalia used to eat meat when she was younger, but she has changed the way she feels about animal food.

absolutely traditional

In our second story, we will listen to Camilla, who eats meat on a daily basis and buys it from the supermarket. She is aware of all the problems around the meat industry, but that doesn’t stop her from following her traditional diet.

absolutely pescatarian

In our last story, we will listen to Jakob, who tried to be vegetarian for some time but then switched to a “pescatarian” lifestyle. A pescatarian does not eat meat, a bit like a vegetarian, but does eat seafood like fish or mussels. Jakob tells us how he feels about his new fish-based diet after years of sticking to only vegetarian food.

What about you? Do you have a strong opinion on your food? Have you ever changed your diet to accommodate certain needs? We’d love to hear your stories! Feel free to share your opinion with us here on the podcast. You can leave a comment, send us an email, or even reach out for a follow-up interview in one of our next shows.

By the way, did you know we are also on iTunes or Apple Podcasts? You can subscribe to us there for free and give us a rating and a comment.

Our next show will be coming to you from Anne Fox in Denmark on 2 May

Until then – bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Michele Varvara (Italian)

Assistant Editor: Era Meço (Albanian)