Communication across Europe

1. Communication across Europe It snowed a lot – a stereotype or not?

2. We asked students, participants in the project, to write a statement about a country they visited. The statement had to be based on their impressions or experience. These statements were read to students from the school who were asked to recognize which country each statement referred to.

3. It snowed a lot. • There lots of people in the jewelry shops. • We ate a six-course lunch. • Nature is amazing. • Streets are not very busy any time of the day and life seems peaceful and quiet. • We had difficulty finding a café.

4. They tend to drink more tea thancoffee. • The teacher sang in a karaoke bar. • We saw people of all colours and ethnicities. • People are extremely friendly and hospitable. • Students have classes on Saturday. • Most people speak very good English. • Some of us ordered pizza.

5. The statement The possible stereotype behind. • It snowed a lot.They find snow a nuisance. We ate a six-course lunch. They offer their guests plenty of food. Nature is amazing. They are proud of their nature. The teacher sang in a They are excellent singers. karaoke bar. We had difficulty finding a They prefer to stay home. café. There are lots of people in the jewelry shops They are rich. Students have classes on They study a lot. Saturday. Streets are not very busy any time They love peace and quiet. of the day . Analysis of the statements

6. But what is a stereotype? - a fixed, commonly held notion or image of a person or group based on an oversimplification of some observed or imagined trait of behavior or appearance.

7. Commentary To sum up, both students’ statements and responses show that they do not tend to think in terms of stereotypes. Their preliminary knowledge of these countries can be misleading, but most of their ideas are outside the box. It is true that we deliberately avoided recognizing negative stereotypes, but we know that positive stereotypes need to be recognized too as, by definition, they are not accurate. Stereotypes ignore the uniqueness of individuals by painting all members of a group with the same brush. Although the intent behind the statement is positive, it still does not reflect the truth.

8. Is this a big or a small world?A photo quiz

9. A photo quiz • We showed the students typical urban or countryside pictures of the six countries on the project, easily recognizable and others that are not so typical and could be of anywhere. • Students had real difficulty in recognizing most of the pictures.

30. We, as citizens of Europe, are no longer confined to our national and cultural borders. We live across cultures and national boundaries. In this intercultural melting pot we encounter myriads of differences for which we need to develop cultural competence. We need cultural competence to recognize, challenge and burst stereotypes. We need skills in intercultural communication and understanding differences. However, in the intercultural melting pot we live we spot plenty of similarities, too. The more the similarities, the better, as it is similarities that unite us. Similarities motivate us to develop understanding for differences.

31. It’s a small world, isn’t it? Differences don’t separate us. Similarities unite us!

32. The data for this presentation has been collected and organized through a meeting between one hundred students from Geo Milev English Language School and the participants in the project, students from the 12th grade. Thank you for your attention !