A MIX OF CULTURES AT THE ASLLC
B y G a r e t h S i u C H E C K O U T W H A T I T I S T H A T M A K E S T H E I N T E R N A T I O N A L T U T O R S S O S P E C I A L. G A R E T H O R I G I N A L L Y W R O T E T H E F O L L O W I N G A R T I C L E F O R T H E F H M N E W S L E T T E R.
Here at the ASLLC we celebrate cultural diversity every day. We have a team of International Tutors whose role is to improve the English of the students and increase their exposure to overseas cultures. There are eight of us from six different countries, namely the UK, the USA, Ukraine, Colombia, France, and Canada. Between all of us, we can speak English, French, Ukrainian, Russian, Portuguese, and Spanish, as well as a smattering of Cantonese and Mandarin. For some of us, this is also not our first time to live abroad; we’ ve also lived in Portugal, Australia, Taiwan, France, Canada, and Costa Rica. Additionally, there are also many local staff that we work with.
Despite our varied backgrounds and languages, we all have the same goals and are able to work together effectively as global citizens. I feel that the expression‘ strength in diversity’ sums up pretty well the way in which we work. As a team we bring together a plethora of ideas, which can form a strong foundation for how we approach our work. We also have various ways of expressing ourselves and yet seamlessly cooperate in harmony. We certainly learn a lot about each other’ s countries along the way. To help to build the sense of bonding across cultures, we celebrate birthdays together and we have even had a teambuilding day at a trampoline park.
We offer workshops which are both academic and cultural. These are great opportunities for us to share our cultures with students. Workshop titles have included‘ The British’,‘ Intro to South American Music’,‘ French Art and Fashion’,
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