Category: International Education Tools

Upcoming Training Opportunity: BEVI (Beliefs, Events and Values Inventory)

Information about the upcoming BEVI (Beliefs, Events and Values Inventory) Certification Workshop on June 10 and 11 in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, USA.

Read more

Video Interview with Arnd Wächter, Director of “Crossing Borders” Film

Missy Gluckmann interviews Arnd Wächter, Director of the film "Crossing Borders" (April 2010).

Read more

Crossing Borders Film Screening with Producer, Arnd Wachter

Arnd Wachter, Producer of the documentary "Crossing Borders"

Back in November 2009, I wrote about a documentary that I saw at the NAFSA Region X conference.  The film, “Crossing Borders,” was so very powerful that I swore that I would bring it to the community – and I am pleased to be able to invite you to the free screening at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut (USA) on Tuesday, April 6th at 6 pm.

The film’s Producer, Arnd Wachter, will participate in a question and answer period after the film along with WCSU Dr. Robert Whittemore and Dr. Damla Isik, both from WCSU’s Anthropology Department.

Wachter is the Founder and Managing Director of Crossing Borders Education. He completed his MA and Post-Graduate Certificate in Education at London University. He has over twelve years experience of living abroad, and has taught Cross Cultural Education, World Religions and German for the past nine years in the UK, Japan, New Zealand and Spain. Wachter’s fascination for foreign cultures and for the transformative power of journeys have led him to explore a wide range of travel destinations on six continents. In 2008/9 he produced the documentary “Crossing Borders.”

This screening of “Crossing Borders” is  free and is open to the public. The midtown campus of WCSU is located at 181 White Street. You can park in the large garage (also free) on White Street. The film will screen in the Science Building Theater, Room 125.  This map will be of assistance – and note that the walk from the parking garage to the science building is just a few minutes.

I hope to see you there!

Forum on Education Abroad Conference: Day 1 (March 24, 2010)

Summary of sessions at day one of the Standards Institute at the Forum on Education Abroad Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Read more

Prisencolinensinainciusol: What Does English Sound Like to “Foreigners”?

I am one of those people who listen to radio stations in languages that I don’t speak – to me, it offers an opportunity to explore different sounds, figure out a few words, and hum to some good music.

While I have taught ESL in the past, I had not come across this brilliant video.  It starts with a skit:

The student asks the Professor why he wrote a song “that has strange words that don’t mean anything.” This version does not show the entire skit, but the Professor does go on to say that people aren’t communicating enough so he wrote this song and the title is meant to mean “Universal Love.”

This song, Prisencolinensinainciusol, was written by Adriano Celentano from Italy in the early 1970s.   He wrote it using gibberish that was meant to sound like English, giving us an idea of what it might feel like to not actually understand English.

This first video clip is the partial skit and song.  When you play this first clip, what English words do you think you hear? How do you react to not knowing what is being said?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcUi6UEQh00

This next version is a “translation” of the “sort of English” into English. How did you feel about these “lyrics”?  Did they reflect any words you thought you heard?

At the end of the day, I found this to be a really fun exercise and actually found this tune to be rather catchy. It is a bit of early rap/funk and I think it will be playing in my head for days!

I’m looking forward to hearing your experiences with Prisencolinensinainciusol!