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| On the other side..Sweden! |
One
of my friends met this English teacher from Sweden, Ms Margareta,
when she went out of town 2 years ago. Last year, she arranged for a
conference with a few students in Ms Maragereta's school to
communicate with them. It was more of an interactive session between
people from different cultures and different countries. I heard the
experience was very interesting and very exciting. So this time, my
friend asked a few of us to join her, since Ms Margareta said she
would gather 40 students in her class for the conference.
Prior
to the conference, the four of us sat together and framed some
questions that we could ask during the call. We then assembled in the
conference hall along with our English head of department, Mrs.
Elizabeth and our CAS coordinator Mr. Rolf. We took help from the IT
department to arrange the equipment for the skype call. Later, we
also called one of our classmates to take pictures of us and the
screen during the conference.
At
the beginning of the call, there were a few technical issues, but the
IT support helped us out with that. We first introduced ourselves and
then started with the exchange of questions. Since they asked us if
we had questions first, we took the stand and started. Our first
question was why they choose to learn English as one of their
languages at school. Surprisingly, they said “Because, we're forced
to! We don't have a choice.” We then understood that English isn't
something they are learning out of their own will.
But
they were all wearing typical western clothing like jeans. That's
what pushed us to think a little bit more. They depict the western
culture unconsciously, despite the fact that they don't like the
language as a part of academics. So our following question was how
they are influenced by the western culture. They answered “Our
parents are the main influence,we've been exposed to this culture
ever since we were little.” It then made more sense to us.
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| Just like professionals! |
They
then took the chance to ask us questions. They asked us about what
other languages we learn at school, how long an average school day
is, whether we work on Saturdays, how long our summer breaks and
winter breaks are and what we do on our spare time. We asked them the
same too. They seemed to have similar hobbies.
Later,
we asked more about the festivals they celebrate and how they
celebrate their birthdays at school. The experience was very
fascinating. Having an intercultural exposure is something that
actually lets you understand who you are and how you are different as
an individual.
Duration : 1.5 hours
