Traveling around the world is a fantasy that millions of people have in common. Few actually get to make it come true. Despite the discouraging percentage, the truth is that we live in a world where handling a second, and why not a third language, comes in handy. It is, in fact, the differentiating reason why professionals get or do not get a fancy job.
Our goal, among others, is to graduate students with a high domain of the English language because of the reasons exposed above. To achieve that, we have developed a series of activities targeted at experiencing the language instead of just memorizing it. So for this, it is essential for students to experience several activities to stimulate their creativity and mindfulness towards knowledge and understanding.
Language and culture are intertwined
Several studies have shown that there is no better way to understand a new language than knowing its culture and context; Language and culture are intertwined; when people interact with others, they interact with the culture. Learning a language is not only managing grammar structures or different vocabularies as they go beyond; it is a powerful tool to understand customs and people’s behavior as a mechanism to apply the acquired knowledge into the everyday life.
Using this as a strategy, we have spent several times having fun “celebrating” popular events worldwide, such as Valentine’s Day, Easter, Saint Patrick’s Day, and Thanksgiving, among others, where our young learners got to know the culture of the nations where English is spoken as their official or second language.
According to this, they recognize that English is a valuable tool to communicate with people around the globe. And thanks to understanding how interesting and meaningful different cultures can be, they also grow personally, turning into citizens of the world, people who live in harmony with everybody despite borderlines, distance, customs, and beliefs. So, what better way to achieve this without coming across as obligatory? Well, displaying this into action will allow the students to improve their identity even though if they recognize the qualities of other countries’ cultures.
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