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We Talked in English!
Recently we finished the Youth Exchange on Communication and English which was directed towards youth aged 14-18 and was about communication and practicing English. 4️6️ youth from Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Spain and Turkey took part, who were welcomed in Cristuru Secuiesc thanks to the financial support of the Erasmus+ Program. The first day was about getting to know each other, the program, and the community. To end the introductions, we finished the day with an intercultural snack night.
The second day was about understanding the topic of communication. In the morning we went to the park of the Gyárfás estate and created 6 posters with 6 burning questions: “What types of communications are there?”, “Where do we communicate the most?“, “What are the barriers to effective communication?”, “What are the characteristics of verbal communication?”, “What are the characteristics non-verbal communication?” and “What are the consequences of lack of communication?” and then through the World Café method we checked all of them out and added other ideas. Coming back to the office we watched a short video about why face to face communications breaks down and analysed it in national groups and then all together trying to find examples in our real life. The afternoon we found out what type of social media platforms are used nowadays for messaging (Whatsapp), checking photos videos (Instagram, Youtube), following what people do (TikTok). After that, 6 teams chose a platform and created a post on them about their experience in the youth exchange so far.
On the third day we went deeper into types of communication. In the morning we held a debate about the positives and negatives of online communication while in the afternoon we looked at all the types of communication there are and asked pairs of youth to create combinations of face-to-face/digital, constructive/destructive and formal/informal messages on the same topic. After dinner it was time for learning about our cultures through folk dances.
On the fourth day we did some discussions on face-to-face communication. We debated questions such as why is face-to-face communication better? How could it be bad? We also realized how easy it is to change the meaning of our words or sentences, just by switching to another tone. To end the morning, we tried to discover how everyone makes toast, what steps they follow and how they can break these steps apart individually and in groups. In the afternoon the team had a cultural visit to Sighisoara, the Medieval fortress.
The fifth day was all about talking. After a little bit of warm-up, we organized ourselves into pairs so we could discover our inner artists. Sitting back-to-back first with words, afterward by finger drawing on each-others back had to explain different kinds of shapes and pictures, and the other one had to draw it down on a piece of paper. Next, we formed teams from the pairs, and it was time for the situational game. Each team received a scenario that they had to perform in front of the others, and at the end, we could have a discussion related to the topic. We ended the day with open space discussions in English on 9 topics that were suggested by the participants. We organized ourselves into smaller groups and the only task was to communicate.
On the sixth day, we tested out our engineering skills. The first task was to build a spaghetti tower with a marshmallow on top. Some successfully completed the task; others would have preferred to cook the dried pasta. A very brain-training task was up next. We had to decide what was a feeling and what was an emotion. The answer is surprising. But we followed up the tough debate situation with a bit of target shooting. Each participant had to throw a dart at a target, which landed on a feeling, which had to be portrayed in a photo. There were some interesting approaches, but everyone did a great job. We ended the day with speaking exercises in English and discussed a variety of topics.
Day seven started in the Gyárfás garden with a little forum theatre. Every team was given a communication situation which they had to perform in front of the whole team. The others had to find solutions to the problems in the situation. We finished the morning session with a drug prevention workshop, where we had guests from the ministry and police force. The participants could get involved in an interactive discussion with the specialists. After lunch, the focus was on practicing English communication with the usual Open Space activity.
On the last day, we were finishing up our activities. First, we familiarized ourselves with the idea of “YouthPass”. What is it? How does it work? Why is it important? Afterward, the participants had the chance to reflect on their own development during the program. After lunch, we had a chance to hear what kind of programs our participants would be interested in the future. We closed the day and the youth exchange, with a bit of evaluation, handing out the certificates and saying our goodbyes.
It was an experience full of learning and new friendships made. Stay tuned for the next one as it is coming soon.
