Absolutely Intercultural Podcast

This week, I find this podcast episode, internationalize yourself at home through simulations in teaching to overcomesocial barriers and culture shock very interesting.  The episode is divided into four parts: Absolutely foreign, absolutely privileged, absolutely real and absolutely simulated. In the first section, absolutely foreign, they have university students to share with audiences their own experience of how to prepare themselves to be internationalized by study abroad or work abroad. In the second section absolutely privileged, the episode focuses on a game called “How far can I get in my society.” The game makes people aware of the social barriers in a society visible. In the third part, absolutely real, it talks about it is very helpful if you have already experienced what you will encounter for intercultural preparation. Zydrune shares her own experience in Germany in this part. In the final part, absolutely simulated, the university lecture intercultural communication helps a lot with interviews about advantages and disadvantages of simulations.

I find this podcast episode is very useful especially for language teaching. In the future, I want to go back to China to teach middle school students English. Since studying abroad is still a very hot issue in China, most of my students will be interested studying abroad, that means most of them will encounter something like cultural shock. I think this podcast is very helpful for them if they could listen to other’s real life experiences and use strategies to get them better prepared to be internationalized. Also, language learning is always about culture learning too, so it is necessary for them to be aware of cultural issues even for those students who do not want to study abroad. It is still a good tool to help them gain a global view.