My Experience of the Exchange^{[http://inet.dpb.dpu.dk/infodok/sprogforum/Espr18/byram.html A record of my Intercultural Experi" href="../../../ICC_Assessment#footnote-2">2]}

 

 

A. Feelings 

 

 

•  Ways in which my curiosity and interest were aroused: (examples that made me re-consider my own culture)

   

  I found very thought-provoking the discussion we had in class with the American student, were we compared our scholar systems and our way of studying. It made me think about the pros and cons of the Italian system and the American/Anglo-Saxon one. I also though on which is the school system that gives the best preparation, not only to face the job world, but in general to face life and its challenges.

   

  Another occasion in which I re-considered my own culture was when talking about university life in the States, and the fact that young people leave home earlier than us. In general talking about the differences of young people in the two countries made me reflect on how less independent Italians are in contrast with Americans.

   

  My curiosity was aroused when talking about politics, as I was very curious on finding out how Americans see this topic and how much they know about our political situation.

   

   

   

   

• Moments in which I felt uncomfortable: (what made me feel like this, with particular examples if possible) I didn't like when we discussed about the last Italian electoral campaign, as she asked me about the anthems for Berlusconi and Veltroni that Sarah posted in our course blog. She wanted to know if these ads were common in our political campaigns. I felt so ashamed!

 

• Moments when I felt comfortable:(what made me feel like this, with particular examples if possible) I cannot recall specific examples, but every time we could discuss and talk nicely, exchanging information and opinions without problems.

 

 

B. Knowledge  

 

 

•  The most important things I learnt about family life and/or life at school.I learnt better about college, and the process American guys have to face in order to find a college that accept them. I also learnt that young Americans are required to do a lot of activities in different fields in order to be more qualified for any kind of job. Moreover, I got to know more about the way Americans study and prepare exams, without learning a lot of definitions and notions by heart, but rather reading a lot and learning to be critical towards the subjects they study

• The most important things I have learnt about the country, the nation, the state of the target language.

  I got a more precise idea of the fact that there are differences in habits and way of life among people from different parts of the USA. Of course I know it is a huge country that have differences inside, but we got from the movies and other sources the idea that America is all the same, and therefore Americans are all the same.

   

  Moreover, I learnt more about American politics. More specifically I learnt that young Americans are very interested in politics and this topic is source of discussion and even fighting, as it happens so often here in Italy as well. Besides, I got to hear a personal opinion regarding the Presidential elections in the US, that are a current topic in the news even here in Italy.

   

   

•  What I have learnt about customs and conventions of talking with people (topics which interest them, topics to avoid, how to greet people and take leave from them).

  What I certainly learnt is how difficult it is to skype in three people, as it is very common to overlap while talking. Anyway, I found relatively easy to talk using the normal customs and conventions that I currently use when talking with people in general. I didn’t find any difference from talking with an Italian peer, apart when talking in Italian, as I was very careful to make myself understandable as much as I could, and I was paying a lot of attention on whether she was following me or not.

   

   

   

   

   

   

C. Actions

 

• Incidents or problems which I resolved by explaining different cultures to people, helping them see the points of view of different cultures and how misunderstandings can happen. Maybe I just don’t remember, but it never happened.

 

• Examples of times when I have had to ask questions and work out my own answers (from ask for clarification to understanding cultural customs and beliefs) When working on the final project.

 

 

A. Interest in other people's way of life

 

• I am interested in other people's experience of daily life, particularly those things not usually presented to outsiders through the media. Example: personal school experience and political beliefs

 

• I am also interested in the daily experience of a variety of social groups within a society and not only the dominant culture. Example: discussions about immigrants in the US and in Italy

 

 

B. Ability to change perspective

 

• I have realised that I can understand other cultures by seeing things from a different point of view and by looking at my culture from their perspective. Example: This happened in particular when talking about differences in political campaign and attitudes toward immigration

 

• I am able to cope with a range of reactions people from different cultures may have to the way I express myself and what I say. Example: I tried not to make jokes that could have been source of misunderstanding, but sometimes I made some and she had a positive reaction.

 

 

 

D. Knowledge about another country and culture

 

• I know some important facts about the other culture and about the country, state and people that I did not know before. Example: the process to be admitted into a college, college life, US presidential

 

• I know how to engage in conversation with people of the other culture and maintain a conversation. Example: I didn’t find any particular difference from my experience in England

 

E. Knowledge about intercultural communication

 

•  I know how to resolve misunderstandings which arise from people's lack of awareness of the view point of another culture. Example of misunderstanding and solution: It was particularly difficult, when we were working on the final project, to make her understand how our election system and our government work, as it is a difficult topic already in Italian.

 

  

 

  

 

Self-Assessment of my Language Learning

 

Please provide specific examples of the following:

 

•           words, expressions I learned in English: It actually never happened that she interrupted and corrected words or expressions I was using wrongly. This absolutely doesn't mean that I was not making mistakes, as sometimes I was correcting myself on my own, but maybe this is due to the fact that the content of our conversations was the most important thing, rather than the way of speaking. That's why I don't have the impression that I learnt a lot of new expressions. What I certainly learnt are new words, such as electoral campaign, electioneering, varsity, and others that I cannot recall now.

•             improvements in my pronunciation of certain words or intonation: When we were talking I tried to imitate her pronunciation and intonation. I cannot tell if this has changed my way of speaking, though, as I've never been very good on judging myself.

   

•           improvements in my listening: Certainly it has been very useful to listen to a native American speaker, as I was more used to the English accent.

 

•          changes in the way I speak Italian to non-native speakers: When talking to her in Italian I paid a lot of attention on speaking slowly and clearly, pronunciating words carefully, especially if I thought she could not know them. I was also very careful to signs of understanding, and if I understood that she was not following me, I interrupted, asking her and maybe repeating things in a simpler way. Besides, sometimes I taped difficult words on the chat while talking, so that it was easier for her to understand and follow.

 

•          words, expressions I learned doing the wiki project: I learned that premier and prime minister are synonyms. I learnt new words concerning the election system and the powers of the president in the US and the premier in Italy, such as ballots, platform, electoral college, delegate, popular vote, electoral vote, winner-take-all system, commander in chief, exert, and so on.

 

•         improvements in my reading doing the wiki project: I use links more than in the past when surfing pages on the Net

 

•           improvements in my writing doing the wiki project: I learnt better how to write a wiki page, especially for what concerns layout, table of contents, uploading images and inserting tables. In particular, I learnt the differences between editing a wiki page and a simple word document.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C. Ability to cope with communicating in a different language with a different culture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A self-assessment of my Intercultural Experience^{[http://inet.dpb.dpu.dk/infodok/sprogforum/Espr18/byram.html A record of my Intercultural Experi" href="../../../ICC_Assessment#footnote-3">3]}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Description of my feelings, knowledge and actions during the Exchange.

 

 

 

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