Latest posts

•  Learning languages Requires Us to Let Go and Engage!
  Language is much more than the sounds, letters, grammar, vocabulary. That is why so many people struggle learning languages. We were sold the idea that if we learn all that, then we will ?know? a language. What a load of bunkum! Languages are the means we have to express who we are, what we think....
  Thu, 04 Oct 2012 14:06:00
•  Challenging the concept of ?culture? in teaching
  Please watch this video called Culture: tishrab ahwa?(Would you like a coffee?), taken from a coursebook called Alif-Ba, to teach Arabic to beginners... After that, consider this statement and your position about it. ?Ideally, language learning should function as a multicultural discours...
  Wed, 12 Sep 2012 18:59:00
•  Japan, Korea, USA: Are we all the same?
  What do you think I would answer if you asked me if I sometimes feel like I don?t know where I belong? Let me introduce myself a bit. I have a unique background: I am from South Korea and Japan. I was born and grew up in the former till I was 19 and then moved into the latter because of my famil...
  Sun, 09 Sep 2012 14:39:00
•  Lost in cultural Babel
  I'd like to share this idea with you: It's very difficult to step back from our cultural conditioning and look at our own culture with fresh eyes, clarity and impartiality.And what I mean by this is that if a foreigner says something we don't appreciate about our country/culture, immediately either ...
  Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:25:00
•  The slightness of British difference
  This is a short post about how trying to be polite can be very confusing for someone from a different culture.It took me sometimes to realize that. I'm in England at the moment, attending some courses and I've asked different questions to my teachers. Three or four times it happened that someone or ...
  Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:30:00