Conamara, Ireland 16-21.05.2009,“Ensuring Learning Effectiveness and Security”

This project is the follow-up of the project organized in Greece in March 2008 by Kids in Action organization. It was meant to be a consolidation seminar on what we had learned in Greece, but also a great way of sharing our experience that we had earned as youth leaders from the previous year with the others participants. It was great that we had the chance to meet with old friends, but the greatest satisfaction was the fact that what we had learnt the previous year gave us the possibility to improve our youth leader skills. These were 6 extraordinary days during which we learned a great deal from one another and during which we created a small brochure about what our group believed one should have in mind when one wants to be a great leader. Our hope is that in the future we shall have equally amazing projects and that we will be able to share the results of our work with as many European youngsters as possible.

In preview I will give you the article that I (Eduard), Catalin Cosma from Romania, and Judith from Hungary, created for this brochure:


Language difficulties
1 STATEMENT

Sometimes we wonder what the pourpose of the youth exchanges is, because people talking different languages with different backgrounds can be sometimes confusing. But with time we found out that language is a much easier barrier to cross than we think. And the fact that we are introduced to a multilingual and multicultural environment is actually an advantage that helps our personal development. But still we believe that establishing some guidelines might help us to have a better programme.


2 BODY
The importance of a common language is sometimes overrated and language barriers must be crosssed in order to get a common agreement and establish a simple way of communication.
But sometimes language can get in the way of communication. We all encountered this type of situations where language barrier can lead to individual isolation and group division.

Communication is necessary to complete the main goal of the project since there is no project without a message, without workshops and team work. If participants do not have one common understanding of the goal, they cannot work together efficiently to complete the project and even slows down the natural flow of it.
Even if the participants come up with new ideas, the communicatoin barrier is still there so they cannot express themselves fully and also cannot make connections with the other.

We must give a special attention to people with special needs, for whom words do not exist. For these people the use of body language is the only solution, but there is a down size to this: sometimes the gestures might be misunderstood or not undertsood at all .

We also must give a special attention to the language barrier between organisers & participants. If organisers can't make themselves clear and don't have a good level of language skills, a lot of problems can appear. They must be able to make the programme clear for the participants..

3 SOLUTIONS

Having experienced some negative and positive effects of language barriers, we now would like to provide the leaders with some advice how to deal with unexpected situations that may cause difficulties throughout the whole project.
Even if participants come from different countries with different backgrounds and languages, it is the job of the leader to try to prepare the participants and organise the activities in a way that everyone is included and the language barrier is overcome.
If the leader cannot accomplish this on his own, he should have at least one translator who can facilitate the natural flow of the communication. If the budget does not allow an official translator, the leader can ask for students who are willing to volunteer for it.
Also, creating a dictionary of frequently used words would help the participants accommodating to the new environment.
A list of common phrases and words can be done in advance during the APV in order to promote communication in an easy and playful way from the very beginning.
In addition, a draft of the schedule should contain a short description of the daily programme so that the participants have the same understandinsg of the issue discussed and be able to prepare accordingly.

We also find it important to mix the participants from different nations and divide them into different rooms. This will make them mingle with each other and try to improve their friendship through communication.


Here is an example where language barrier was crossed:

The story of common word

The training course took part in Turkey. Before starting the daily schedule, the participants from different nations suddenly decided to find a common word that means the same in all languages with the same pronunciation. In a couple of minutes they discovered in all countries that “sapka” is the word they were looking for. After discovering that language is no barrier among nations, they decided to find each day a word that can connect all of them. This game provided them with lots of fun and easily became part of their daily activities. Moreover, while having fun, their language skills developed as well since they started to explore more and more of each others” languages and this common understanding brought them closer to their different cultural backgrounds.


Sometimes language barrier can be a problem, but there are situations where with a little bit of will it can be overcome.

interesant, dar vrem sa aflam mai multe despre cum a mers proiectul, cum a fost organizarea, cum v-ati descurcat cu accentul irlandezilor, ceva detalii de culise...

cum spune si symy.... diseminarea proiectului.... si ..dorim sinceritate;))

ok...diseminare!scuze pentru intraziere dar NU am avut literalmente timp saptamana asta!so dupa cum stiti am mers singur (am avut inca un loc dar...am platit taxa de participare pt doi...ca asa este la capitalisti!)drumul a fost relativ lung dar nu chiar atata de groaznic pe cat ma asteptam...la dus a fost chiar ok..am facut o pauza la koln ,timp suficient sa mananc sa vizitez centrul orasului si superbul dom!am ajuns apoi la londra dimineata cu trecere pe la calais si dover!am luat repede pulsul orasului am fixat reperele pt vizita mea privata de la intoarcere(nu voi povesti NIMIK despre asta pt ca a fost ceva in afara programului).noaptea am traversat marea irlandei si am ajuns in dublin la 6 dim ora locala(ora 8 la noi).dublin-ul ma intampina cu ploaia(cum altfel )dar una ciudata care se manifesta ca o pacla apoasa care pur si simplu venea de peste tot facand inutila umbrela.aflu cu stupoare ca hotelul meu se afla intr-o suburbie(cei de la agentie de la bucuresti anuntau ritos ca este la 10 min de centru)dar prin amabilitatea unor localnici reusesc sa dau de el(apropo accentul irlandez este groaznic si trebuie sa-i rogi sa vorbeasca rar sa poti fi sigur ca ai inteles) si dupa lungi insistente(un negru nu vroia sa ma cazeze decat incepand cu ora 15) ma bag sub jetul de apa binecuvantat al dushului.dau de catalin rapid (catalin face parte dintr-o organizatie din bucuresti) si ne punem temeinic pe vizitat.dublin este un orash neinteresant oarecum posac ,probabil din cauza cladirilor cenusii sau a celor cu fatada din caramida.este construit de o parte si de alata a raului liefey si este port la marea irlandei.o populatie de 1,5 mil de locuitori.este curat foarte bine semnalizat (este greu sa te pierzi in el) nu are zgarie nori si nu am vazut cladiri peste 7-8 niveluri.ma rog...punctez principalele puncte de interes cu constiinciozitatea de turist....centrul orasului cu celebra "teapa" statuia lui james joyce ,cladirea postei,cladirea vamii ,trinity college,primaria,castelul dublin,catedrala st. patrick, statuia lui molly malone,arcul fusiliers,the four courts si cam atata imi amintesc....oricum nu am scapat nimic din ceea ce este "important".
o mentiune speciala si un must see in dublin sunt turul fabricii de bere guinness cu al sau celebru "garvitybar" de unde de la cea mai mare inaltime din dublin ai o priveliste spectaculosa asupra orasului savurand in acelasi timp cea mai celebra marca de export a irlandei..pret 15 euro(extrem de mic fata de ce te astepti cand vezi cat costa toate cele in irlanda...tara care bate la preturi pana si anglia sau elvetia) ...nu pot uita superba seara irlandeza de la vechea distilerie jameson ce a cuprins un tur de fabrica cu deslusirea tuturor"secretelor" fabricarii whisky-ului muzica si dansuri irlandeze(promit cat de curand voi posta ceva pe sectiunea noastra de you tube) si o masa completa(trei feluri+irish coffee) la care s-au folosit in reteta(pt sosuri de exemplu) whisky jameson...absolutely exquisit !per total doua zile pline care m-au satisfacut deplin!
drumul spre galway taie irlanda de la est la vest dandu-tzi astfel ocazia sa-tzi faci o idee despre cum arata the country side of emerald island ...galway este un dublin in miniatura,dar fara absolut nimik de vazut!suntem repede expediati catre locul unde urmeaza sa se desfasoare seminarul si care va fi casa nostra pentru urmatoarele 5 zile...drumul este superb ,pe malul oceanului atlantic si traversand o puzderie de mici insulite care sunt legate unele de altele prin poduri de piatra(arata partea asta fix ca celebrele carti poshtale cu irlanda sau clipurile publicitare) .
locul in care stam pare desprins dintr-o poveste de j.r.r.tolkien ...este absolut superb dupa cum puteti vedea in linkul alaturat www.conamaracottages.com
nu am sa va plictisec cu date despre seminar...desfasurat dupa tipic,energisere ,lucru pe echipe,refelections of the day etc...sakis si padric sunt extrem de seriosi si profesionisti iar grupul experimentat....treaba merge struna...vom avea celebra revista in cateva saptamani si am sa o pun in formatul ei electronic aici pt toata lumea...originalul va sta in celebra cutie cu artefacte de pe dulapul din holul sediului nostru provizoriu
avem o singura vizita in cadrul proiectului si anume celebrele cliffs of the mother din partea sudica a orasului galway unde avem o priveliste breathtaking asupra atlanticului...
ok per total o experienta unica care iti "exorcizeaza" miturile despre tarile "dezvoltate" si din care inveti foarte multe in primul rand sa apreciezi la adevarata valoare ceea ce avem la noi acasa...
cu fiecare drum si fiecare noua destinatie gasesc Romania din ce in ce mai frumosa in ciuda negativismului nostru si a complexului nostru de inferioritate creat si sustinut artificial...

Multumim ca ne-ai satisfacut curiozitatea. Asa cum faci de obicei...diseminare in adevaratul sens al cuvantului;)