Dimension #3 - The HARBOR

Let's Talk

We will now finish our introduction to 3D Dynamics by exploring the 3rd Dimension which is the HARBOR.

As I have been developing this 3D perspective over the past 3 decades, and formalizing it over the past months, I initially chose the word "Haven" for the 3rd Dimension, which is a "safe place" to meet and interact.  But then I thought of the word...

HARBOR

and the kind of place it represents and the dynamics which happen in that kind of place...

and I knew I had my 3rd Dimension!

Think of a harbor you've experienced...or find an image of one from your favorite time of history.
    What do you see - hear - feel as you enter into this place?  Certainly down through the ages, the harbor has been a safe place to start out from, full of expectations; or to return to, grateful to have made the trip successfully...or to arrive at in the middle of a long voyage for restocking and refreshment. 
     Harbors are kaleidoscopes of multi-colored cultures and many languages with bustling energy, constant comings and goings, lots of excitement.  There is the vast array of cargo arriving and being packed...exotic items, precious treasures, bulky shipments of common goods.  Noise, strong fragrances, a bracing splash -mixed with the salty sea or the brisk fresh water spray.  Harbors are also places of commerce, networking, exchange of ideas.  Visions and dreams are brought to harbors to be shared, pursued, bought and sold.
     My father, who has always loved ships and ocean voyages chose for his 79th birthday to take a "container ship cruise".  He isn't into fancy, tourist type cruises - but he totally relished his 10 days on a container ship which traveled from the southeast US down the coast of South America.  He would get up in the middle of the night just to enjoy (from the deck) watching the hustle and bustle of the harbors they visited!   I feel the same way, on a smaller scale.  I love walking on the worn piers along the Florida Gulf coast, checking out the boats, seeing the day's catch, letting my imagination take me on trips

How about you...ready for a HARBOR adventure?!

Please share your comments below.

********************************************************************

The Task

I suspect you might be wondering where in the world I am headed with this?!

What does all this have to do with how you are going to learn this language??

Okay, let's look more closely at this 3rd Dimension Dynamic, the HARBOR, in a learning context.

By describing it more fully, I think you'll see the direction we're going and begin to grasp what the task is as you leave your HOME, connect with your HOST and spend time together in your chosen HARBOR!

The HARBOR is:

* the place where HOME (remember the 1st Dimension - that's where you, the Learner, come from)

   and HOST (2nd Dimension - the people to whom you are going) meet

*  a “safe”, mutually supportive place for all participants - both HOME and HOST

*  a place of relating and networking, where shared perspectives, goals and commitments
    are explored and plans are strategically made to meet everyone's needs

*  a place where everyone gives, grows and gains as individual and mutual adventures take shape...

    and take off!

Ready for the Trip?!

Please share your comments below.

********************************************************************

Tools

We'll be looking at a variety of tools in the coming months for how learners can effectively enter

and benefit from the HARBOR Dimension.

This week, I want to ask you, as a learner who has hopefully completed some of the Learner ID (refer back to the "Dimension #1 - HOME" posting) and who has identified one of your possible HOSTs (refer back to "Dimension #2 - The HOST" & "Principle #1 - Motivation and My Host" postings) to consider the following as you become acquainted with being in the HARBOR of your chosen learning context:

1.  What one goal do I want to share with my HOST as a starting point?

2.  What one goal would my HOST like to share with me?

3.  How can we plan to work together to meet each of these goals?

         What skills or materials do we each already have to offer?

         What training do we need to seek or give?

         What is our initial timetable?

         What are our individual responsibilities?

These are the types of considerations you'll need to process with your HOST, and the type of planning which needs to be done.  A full "Harbor Profile" is being developed - let me know if you are interested in seeing it.

PS  If you haven't done the first steps of getting in touch with yourself as Learner (HOME) or figuring out who your HOST is...you need to do that before you can effectively move into the HARBOR!  But that's okay - I mainly wanted to introduce you to the idea today.  We'll look back together at HOME and HOST in the coming weeks as well as looking forward to what the HARBOR offers!

                                                      Please share your comments below.

********************************************************************

That's it for this time!  
Betsy

Dimension #2 - The Host

Let's Talk

Okay, we've had a good break for 2 weeks now! 

Let's get back to work on understanding how we can plan our learning program in order to achieve our goals.  We're focusing in this section on the 2nd Dimension of 3D Dynamics - which is the HOST.

The story I want to share with you, to help you begin to grasp what it means to connect with the Host, comes from my alma-mater, Middlebury College.  It is about a student who recently received a very special scholarship award called the "Watson Fellowship".   Only 40 American students are given this award each year.  It pays for a student to travel and do research for one year following their graduation.   The student I want to tell you about, whose name is Austin Davis, spent the early months of his junior year in Egypt - which was the inspiration for his Watson research project.  Austin, a soon-to-graduate political science major, says his goal is “to spend time with people, listen to their stories, immerse myself in their everyday lives, and learn what ‘disability’ means throughout five strikingly different Arab societies – Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and immigrant Arab communities in Greater London.” 

As we look at how a person can enter a culture, to learn the language or anything else (like about how disability is viewed), we are going to see the importance of connecting with the Host, the people with whom you will live and work.  Austin plans to interact with disabled people in these various places...and the amazing part of his story is the powerful "in" he has with these people.  This is because, during his first stay in an Arab culture which was in Egypt during his junior year, Austin had an accident - and lost both of his legs.  That stunning fact combines then with Austin's recovery from this traumatic and disabling experience to finish his degree at Middlebury, and his plans now to return, to connect at deeper levels with his Hosts.  He describes it this way:  "I’m spending time in a culture from which I can learn so much, making up for the year abroad that I missed.  By focusing on disability in these communities, I get to understand the gap between me and the kid in the other operating room who doesn’t get to flee to America as soon as he stabilizes.”

This is such a beautiful example of a learner with specific goals for intercultural proficiency who understands the importance of Host awareness - and is planning very strategically to develop it!! 

(For the whole story, check out http://blogs.middlebury.edu/middmag/2011/03-24  This article is the source of the above quotes.)

Please share your comments in the space below...

******************************************************************************

The Task

So, how can Austin's story inform our own adventure in language learning? 

One way is to grasp the fact that in order to enter into a culture, and function effectively -

on whatever level you want to function -

you must make an effort to understand and connect with your Host. 

Who is your Host? 

This depends on your context and on what you choose to focus.  Your Host can be:
1.  an individual - or a group of individuals - fellow students, or colleagues at work.
2.  a family who welcomes you into their home, or a whole clan if the culture has a close-knit clan structure
3.  a community, where you live and study or complete a specific project
For Austin, his immediate Host will be the kids he mentions, and their families.  Then at a different level, it will be the organizations he contacts and works with in the various places he visits which are supporting those with disabilities.

For you, you decide - and then you begin to learn about your Host!

Please share your comments in the space below...

******************************************************************************

The Tools

There are so very many ways these days to learn about Hosts at whatever level you choose, what with the internet, other media resources, members of other cultures who may be living where you live, others who have already lived in your Host culture. 

It's good to get started before you enter the culture...

And to continue then as you start your experience there - as you meet people and begin to identify the Host or Hosts with whom you will choose to connect.

One tool I can offer you is called a "Host Profile".  It's a questionnaire to get you started.  Let me know if you want a copy.  Let me know too of ways you discover, or links you find helpful, as you begin getting acquainted with your Host.

Please share comments in the space below.

That's it for this time! 
Betsy

Taking a Break...

Let's Talk

With this weekend being a holiday for many - and holy days also for many - I just want to visit with you briefly to encourage you to take a break!

Language and culture learning is a huge adventure...and hugely draining!  Sometimes we need to step aside, reconnect with our roots - our "Home", whether that's being with family and friends, returning to familiar resting places or maybe enjoying a favorite activity...
         ************************************************************************

                                                                   The Task

Take a break.

Just do it!!

******************************************************************

The Tools

Gather what you need...

or maybe simply take off

with empty hands and open eyes and ears and heart -

to be refreshed and renewed.

*******************************************************************

Next time we'll look at the 2nd dimension - the Host.

In the meantime, have a good one!

Betsy

Any comments?  Share them below.

Dimension #1 - Home

Cross-cultural Communicators

Adventures is "3 Dimensional" Language Learning!

Let's Talk

The first place in the learning process where we are going to linger 

is within ourselves -

 getting in touch with who we are as learners.

     I was reminded of one facet of myself as learner, and got to know myself alittle better in a different context,  this past week as I worked with my new book-keeper.  She is walking me through my 2010 books, and we had to stop before we got to what I considered a good stopping point.  I'm a global person - she's heavily sequential...the stopping in the middle of our task nearly unhinged me!  Good exercise tho...always good to be reminded - or enlightened - as to who we are!

     Then there was the learner I worked with a number of years ago who was strongly active versus her husband who was a dedicated reflective analyst/desk-working person.  Yikes...that caused major fireworks until we were able to do some careful identifying of each's preferred styles, and affirm these - while acknowledging the benefits of other styles which can be learned in due course.

     More recently I was surprised when I began to work with a retired elementary school teacher who wanted to brush up on her language ability in a second language.  Before tackling the language itself, we started to look at her learning style preferences...and she was also surprised because, despite having taught others for many years, she really was not in touch with some of her own distinct preferences.

Are YOU??!!

********************************************************************************

The Task 

is language learning in a cross –cultural context. 

That context is the Host community, which we'll be looking into very soon. Before we actually go there, I want to further introduce you this week to the "3 Dimensional Dynamics" of this whole process.

Remember that "3D Dynamics" are grounded in a BIG picture perspective. 
They provide a broad, BRIGHT, full, strategically energized approach to communicating.

Let's start with Dimension #1 which is all about:
YOU, knowing yourself as the Learner,
at HOME in your own cozy, familiar culture and language.
 
Check out the Tools below to get you started in discovering more about this dimension.

And tune in next week for Dimension #2!

Comments anyone? Please add yours below.

********************************************************************************

This week's
1st DimensionTools

focus on You the Learner

and
your place of comfort, your HOME.

Tool #1

To begin your journey into discovering yourself as Learner, it's helpful to look back at language learning experiences through your life - both the formal ones (schools, classes) and the informal ones (languages your family members spoke, places you lived or visited).  For those of you who have started to work with me, look back over your Learner ID.  For others interested in this, check out the "Product Kits and Tools" page on my Global SKILLs website (http://www.global-skills-partner.com/ ) and contact me for more information abot this tool. 

(select the link, keep your cursor on it and it will give you the choice to go to it)
Reflecting on these formative experiences will help you be a stronger, more efffective learner in future learning adventures - especially if you take in all 3 dimensions which we'll be looking at in the coming months!

Tool #2

To begin your journey into discoveirng your HOME, the place where you are most comfortable, it's helpful to look at your learning style preferences. 
Check out this simple styles index: http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html 

(select the link, keep your cursor on it and it will give you the choice to go to it)
Send me your index results and I'll give you some details to work through - or just stay tuned since we'll be looking at these on the blog also.

Comments, anyone? Please add yours below.

************************************************************

See you next time!

-Betsy

Welcome!

Welcome to

"Cross-Cultural Communicators"

Adventures in "3 Dimensional" Language Learning!

Hopefully, each week, or thereabout, I’ll be offering a new post here.

The idea is to introduce people who are interested in language and culture learning to a new perspective called  the "3 Dimensional Dynamics" of intercultural communication...

and to guide them through their learning experience, step by step, week by week.

You'll find, and I hope be contributing to, the following:

“Let’s Talk”

Story time – real life experiences, mine or others, which introduce…

“The Task” 

Specifics about language learning program principles, planning, process and
yes – that which we all hope to see – progress!

“Some Tools”

I’ll always include resources, activities, links

to inform and guide you in your communication quest.


And then

Your “Comments”

will round this adventure out, as you pitch in and share thoughts, questions,
your own experiences and definitely suggestions about resources
you discover along the way.

At any time, you are also most welcome to visit my website www.global-skills-partners.com. 
This is the place you can learn more about:
** where I am coming from as a Learner myself, and as a consultant and coach

** the 3 Dimensional Dynamics I will be introducing in this blog
AND

** the vast array of Global SKILLs (which stands for Strategies and Kits for Intercultural Lifelong Learning) which are available to empower successful learning.

***************************************************************************

Let’s Talk
this first week about why we’re here:

We want to be successful cross-cultural communicators. 

First of all, lest you have any illusions about this adventure we're on, allow me to state categorically:

Language learning is a HARD thing to do. 
Living and working cross-culturally are not easy. 
Bottom line, this is a HUGE challenge! 

BUT 

It is also 100% do-able! 
I am convinced of this
AND  
I am passionate about helping  others experience it!

The first time I really came face-to-face with the HARD part truth was in a village in West Africa, where I had just landed for several months of intense language study.  Aside from the rather extreme living conditions (no running water, no electricity...) and the total immersion factor (for example, most of the women in the village did not speak anything I spoke...), this particular language was not yet fully written down, did not yet have an established alphabet…so no books, no classes – just me and my training AND (never forget this!) the community of speakers with whom to live and learn.   Now, I will say I’d spent years studying languages in classrooms, done some pretty extensive cross-cultural living and just finished 4 graduate semesters of training and preparation as a budding field linguist.  But in spite of all that good stuff, the morning dawned in the village that day, and I literally asked myself,

“Can I really make this happen? Can I learn this language?”   

A somewhat frightening moment, I must admit (remembering it this clearly is evidence),

given the context and that my job description included me succeeding.

That was 30 years ago and I’ve spent much of my time since discovering and sharing

what I’m here today to tell you and that is:

“YES!!  I learned that language (and several since then). 

AND

YES!! You can learn your chosen language too!"

 

I am sure of this for two very simple reasons:

First because there are 3 keys I will be sharing with you:

** basic universal principles (for general learning and language learning specific)
** ways to choose and define the necessary tasks involved
** many tools available to every learner.   
These 3 keys - if put into action strategically and consistently - will open the doors for anyone to be a successful language learner.

AND

Second because I have expereinced using the 3 "keys" mentioned here and seen success, time and time again, for myself and while working for the past 2 decades with learners of all ages, from many educational backgrounds and - lest you think this is only for academics or for those who are 'gifted' in languages - learners who truly struggled for years before seeing themselves succeed.

Comments, anyone?  Please add yours below.

******************************************************************

The Task
First, I'll make it perfectly clear what is NOT the Task!

I am not going to teach you your chosen, "target", language!!

I am going to help you learn how to learn the language which will then serve you:

** in communicating effectively in that language

** in learning any other language you choose in the future,

** and also, by the way, in learning anything else you want to learn in life!

This learning experience will be guided using a perspective called "3 Dimensional Dynamics"

(or 3D dynamics).  This is a BIG picture perspective approaching the learning process at 3 differnet levels, while acquiring and applying many strategies and skills.

3D Dynamics includes 3 Keys:

** principles which serve as overall guides

** specific tasks to include in your learning adventure

** tools which’ll help you move forward

AND 1 essential ingrediant:

YOU taking responsibility for your own learning.

We'll be talking more about this,

as step by step,

you become an empowered learner!

Comments, anyone?  Please add yours below.

*********************************************************************

Tools

This week, I'd encourage you to spend some time looking at the Global SKILLs website,

and other online resources you can find about language learning...google key terms like:

language and culture learning, learning styles, language resources.  Look too for resources on your target language.  Or hang out in a library or good bookstore in the languages section - see what kinds of self-guided courses are available.

The goal is just to help you begin to get a sense of the HUGE amount of material available for people who want to learn languages.  Don't get overwhelmed...just enjoy the tour and have fun!

Next week we'll get started with some specifics which will begin to equip you to set your own personal goals for your language learning...and make strategic choices of what task you want to include

and what tools you can use effectively.

Have a good week!
Betsy

Photo notes: All of the Banner Photos were taken by Betsy Hopkins

far left - arriving in Dakar, the capital of Senegal in West Africa

center - the mighty Sahara and the west coast of Africa, taken from 35,000 feet up

far right - a copy shop in Dakar

Note of Appreciation:

I want to heart-fully thank my dear friend and "CC Sister" Karen Holmes for designing this blog with me.  Karen's "art eye" and her many years of experience in the realms of design and business have made this blog happen.  I celebrate its 'birth' and look forward to further collaboration with her!