podcast – Page 8 – absolutely intercultural!

New Skills +++ Professional Challenge +++ Working Overseas +++ Absolutely Intercultural 247 +++

Hello and welcome to show 247 of our podcast “Absolutely Intercultural”. Today’s show is about Working Abroad. Maybe you’ve always dreamed about stepping into a new work environment overseas? We will hear from Sandie, an Australian lecturer who taught in Germany, and Nika, from Georgia, who worked as a bartender in Norway. Our interviewer today is Kalvin Mitchell, also from Australia, who is doing his semester as an exchange student at RheinAhrCampus, Germany. He has been our editor for a while and was curious how worklife changes from country to country. Continue reading “New Skills +++ Professional Challenge +++ Working Overseas +++ Absolutely Intercultural 247 +++”

effect of accents +++ Brexit +++ Absolutely Intercultural 246

Well I hope that you have recovered from hearing about all those gory details about life on the farm in the last show! This is the first show of 2020 so Happy New Year! In this show we go to the UK because there, finally three and a half years after the referendum on whether to leave the EU, the UK government has managed to pass legislation that takes the UK to the next stage. Anyway all our contributors today are migrants to the UK. But you will probably learn almost nothing about Brexit from this show. So if you are concerned that this will be about arcane constitutional corners of Britain or obscure trade rules then please don’t worry!

So what will we be hearing about? Would our contributors recommend migrating to the UK from the EU right now, for example?

And how is the transition from freedom of movement to getting permission to stay making migrants feel?

Although we talked long and hard about being a migrant in the UK, our third contributor, Konrad, did not even mention Brexit. Instead, he gave what I think is the best description I have heard so far of what an intercultural coach does.

Flourishing on the Farm +++ Rural vs Urban Culture +++ Comparing Farms +++ Absolutely Intercultural 245 +++

Welcome to show 245 of “Absolutely Intercultural”! Today’s show is about farm life in Brazil, Germany and Australia. We will learn what childhood is like from three different farm environments in Brazil, Australia and Germany. Be warned, some of the stories may be shocking.

We will hear Manoel from Brazil, Kalvin from Australia, and Laurence, from Germany. You will be surprised and terrified by some of the things our guests have seen and done in their childhood on the farm. Our interviewer today is Vitor, also from Brazil, who is doing his second semester as an exchange student at RheinAhrCampus, Germany. He has been our editor for a while and was curious how culture in the city differs from the countryside, having never personally experienced it before. Continue reading “Flourishing on the Farm +++ Rural vs Urban Culture +++ Comparing Farms +++ Absolutely Intercultural 245 +++”

remote surveys +++ formal language +++ intercultural training +++ Absolutely Intercultural 244 +++

Electricity pylon — How to get information about African electrification from Denmark?

From a university internship to a career as an intercultural trainer we’ll be talking to people at both ends of their career in show 244 of absolutely Intercultural. My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark.

First, Gabrielle Lachance, a French Canadian Masters student interning with a consultancy company in Denmark, tasked with getting a good response rate to a survey about electrification in southern African countries. But what are the chances of getting a good response when you send an email asking for complicated technical information to people that you have no connection with?

And then I talked to Iris Schneider who I met at the SIETAR congress in Belgium in June who is an intercultural trainer based in Bonn Germany. How did she get her first intercultural trainer job? She applied as a relocation expert and then this happened!

Growing Stronger Abroad +++ Germany and Shanghai +++ Hari and Marina +++ Absolutely Intercultural 243 +++

This show is about growing stronger overseas. Maybe you’ve always dreamed about a new life or modifying your old one? You will hear about two students who used their time abroad to reinvent themselves and discover how they managed this change with SMART goals. You will be surprised how these students spent most of their energy.

Harigautham Somasundaram, from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, spent a semester at RheinAhrCampus, Germany, doing an academic internship. He explains how he moulded a new personality using a technique he learned in Germany – SMART goals. Marina, from Germany, shares her personal transformation in China. Initially, she was too scared to order food from a restaurant in China, but by the end, she was exploring the Chinese country-side far away from the trodden paths of regular tourists.

Hands Up project +++ Palestine +++ Bilbrough +++ Absolutely Intercultural 242 +++

I am hoping that by the end of this show you will want to buy a book called ‘Toothbrush and other plays’, as this will help the wonderful Hands Up project which we are going to hear about. You will find the link to buy the book here.

So what is this show about? It’s about the difficulties of getting to and from Gaza in Palestine. It’s about the power of storytelling as a way of learning language and it’s about ingenious ways of getting classes in Palestine to create and perform plays to audiences all over the world. Nick Bilbrough is the man behind the project, and I caught up with him at the IATEFL conference in Liverpool in April where teachers of English from all over the world gather to exchange ideas.

container-home +++ sustainability +++ self-sufficiency +++ Absolutely Intercultural 241 +++

In this show, we will find out what life in a container home in the most spectacular countryside in Queensland is like. We will discover how an industrial container from Hamburg has become the home for two Germans, Uwe Terton (lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast) and Katrin Terton (media artist). They have chosen a very simple and sustainable lifestyle, free from water or electricity bills, far from the busy and “stressful” life in the modern cities. Dr. Uwe Terton, our guest in this show, will share the details of his decision to live in a minimalistic life, up on the hill with a stunning 360° view.

First, Uwe will explain the details of the fauna and flora around the container-home. In the second part, we will go inside the container and we will discover how to use smart ideas to live comfortably but in a sustainable way. And finally we learn how the couple used recycled materials in the construction of the container-home.

Continue reading “container-home +++ sustainability +++ self-sufficiency +++ Absolutely Intercultural 241 +++”

Australia +++ Scumbags Barbershop +++ hair dressing +++ political correctness +++ Absolutely Intercultural 240 +++

Tomi the Barber

In this show, we are going to immerse you in the “culture of barber shops” which means you can expect to meet rough guys with motorcycles, full beards, dirty boots and, of course, a beer can in their hands.

First, we will listen to Tomi, perhaps the happiest barber in Australia, who shares his daily life as an employee in Scumbags Barbershop. Rashad, our exchange student from Azerbaijan is our second guest and will tell us his points of view about the barbershop culture. And finally, we will go listen to Tomi again, and this time he will tell us about the Scumbags philosophy.

Continue reading “Australia +++ Scumbags Barbershop +++ hair dressing +++ political correctness +++ Absolutely Intercultural 240 +++”

SIETAR +++ Syria +++ Pilbeam +++ diversophy +++ Absolutely Intercultural 239 +++

Last week I was in Belgium in the beautiful city of Leuven for the SIETAR Congress.

SIETAR stands for the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research and their biennial congress is a very friendly affair. Of course a Congress is always very diverse, forgive the pun, and in addition diversity was one of the main themes of the Congress this year so todays show is also very diverse.

If you are listening to this from our website then you will see a beautiful image of the gothic town hall of Leuven. This is where we had the opening reception to the Congress and this is also where we heard the mayor of Leuven, Mohamed Ridouani, give a very inspirational talk about what you can do at local level to make people feel valued and included. Unfortunately I did not ask him to be on the podcast but we do have an interesting variety of people for you in the next 25 minutes or so.

Continue reading “SIETAR +++ Syria +++ Pilbeam +++ diversophy +++ Absolutely Intercultural 239 +++”

gender issues +++ Palestine +++ IATEFL +++ Absolutely Intercultural 238 +++

I’m sitting here in Denmark after having attended the annual IATEFL conference in Liverpool in the UK. There are always people from all over the world at this conference, which is one of the biggest gatherings of teachers of English as a foreign language in the world and this year was no exception.
One really nice surprise for me was to meet up with We’am Hamdan who I had recently worked with virtually. I love working online but it’s always nice to meet people face to face and We’am had travelled a long way from Palestine to be in Liverpool where she was leading a session for the IATEFL Global Issues special interest group. We’am was talking about a really interesting and universal topic so we have decided to devote this whole show to it.

Continue reading “gender issues +++ Palestine +++ IATEFL +++ Absolutely Intercultural 238 +++”