Comments for Euroasia: Language, Culture and Travel

Comment on How to bring people of different cultures together by Ken Leong

Ken Leong — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:30:07 +0000

@Christine Georgeson
Christine this is not easy. My suggestion is for you to approach a few parents individually. Perhaps start with 2 or 3 so that you have a core group of helpers. Each person can then approach another 2 or 3 in due course.

I understand your desire to see things happen quickly, and have all the parents on board with your idea. But people are conditioned over a period of many years, and it’s not easy to get them to open up quickly. The key is to maintain a personal approach.

The food fair is a great way to have people involved, but make sure you try to establish the personal relationships first – not just communicate with them via newsletters.

Comment on How to bring people of different cultures together by Christine Georgeson

Christine Georgeson — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:16:15 +0000

Hi,
Can you give me some ideas on how to bring people of other cultures together? We have tried translators but they are very expensive and they quite often translate incorrectly and we have little way of knowing. We have tried coffee mornings but only English speaking people came.
Our common link is that our children attend the same school. We come from many different cultures and countries: African countries, Pakistan, India, Middle Eastern countries, Greece, Italy and a several others. I want to connect all of these people as many of the mothers are at home and do not join in due to language barrier and perhaps cultural reasons that I do not know of. I have found it very difficult to find out why people won’t come to functions and I truly want to find the key to bringing people together so that they can be informed about their children and to perhaps meet others and feel part of the school community. I hear from some people that they want to know what is going on at school but they feel un-informed. Newsletters go out in English every fortnight but of course many of our families can’t read english. Translation of the newsletter into every language would be costly and we do not have volunteers who are able to translate – we’ve tried this and failed. I’d love to know what we’re doing wrong and what we might be able to try next.
We are hoping to do a food fair with food from all the cultures being represented.
Help!! Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Comment on Sept update: Spanish fiesta (26 Sept), photos from Languages Week, Chinese singing project by Anne Lewins

Anne Lewins — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:54:50 +0000

just wanted to know if there is any spanish events on in sept as we are going over to malaga for 2 weeks hols around the 6th sept just wanted to know if there is any thing on. thank you.

Comment on 2010 New Year Resolution: Learn a language by Mara

Mara — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:02:08 +0000

You know a good place to learn a language online -- and have fun in the process -- is Babbel.com. Check it out here

Comment on Asians go home! by Ken Leong

Ken Leong — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:49:11 +0000

@U I think you would find that people inherently have prejudices. We can't help it. For example, you would naturally be scared if you were walking down a dark street in a dodgy area, and some random guy started walking towards you and he's covered with tattoos, wearing a hoodie, and holding a bottle of cheap whisky. This is perfectly natural because you have been taught to think in this manner or if you've had a bad experience in the past. Sometimes these sort of reactions are helpful. What's not so helpful is if people think just because someone is Asian, they can't speak English well and can't relate with other Kiwis. This means Asians are then systematically excluded from business and career opportunities.

Comment on MYOB vs Xero review – 6 months post-implementation by Ken Leong

Ken Leong — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:43:28 +0000

I think the consensus is that Quickbooks just isn’t as good as Xero.