Bubbles
I’ve just seen this Christmas advertisement from Deutsche Telekom and it really spoke to me.
In the light of all I’ve talked about over the last few weeks, I think it’s really apposite. In three very different presentations about Favourite activities (Practical Pedagogies), Teaching languages not Spanish (The Language Show) and today, on The importance of the international dimension in language learning (Acapulco) there’s been a common thread. That learners need to feel valued; that they need to see beyond their own experience and that connections are the way to break down barriers. And I’d say this advertisement sums up the importance of that.
As Deutsche Telekom write:
In a time when the world feels more divided than ever, we all benefit from real human connection. By opening ourselves to those on the other side, we realise that we’re not so different after all. Let’s break the barriers we create in our minds.
Connections Begin When Barriers Break. ❤️💙I’ll be sharing this with my learners in my next Language of the Month assembly, if not before!
2 thoughts on “Bubbles”
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Hello,
I really love this Ad that you’ve blogged about I’m glad to have seen it. I’m hoping to become a WL teacher, and I know the heavy importance of students learning about the culture of the target language. For students to learn of this culture they’ll venture out from their own experiences. Expanding on what they know, and finding the differences and similarities from themselves and the target language culture.
How do you get your students to break the barrier? I find that this is a question I ask myself often, as I think about lesson plans.
Hi Jennifer.
My apologies for not replying sooner. I didn’t see your message until now.
It takes time and effort but it can happen. Lots of discussion and positive experiences of diversity is important. We’ve taken part in numerous international partnerships in which the learners have ‘met’ people who look like them but live life in a different way, and vice versa. They’ve had lots of opportunities to ask questions and discuss their thoughts. I place a high value on all language skills, not just in the language we’re learning with also promotes the idea of diversity being a positive rather than a negative. In terms of Spanish specifically, whilst we learn Spanish pronunciation, I ensure that we have plenty of material that reflects Spanish as a world language including images, events, customs names and so on from the wider Hispanic world.
Hope that answers your question?
Lisa x