#353 IB Learner Profile: #Communicators
As someone who loves #languages #linguistics #etymology #quotes and - in reality - all things language related, I very much appreciate the #IBLP #attribute regarding #Communicators, “We express ourselves confidently and creatively in more than one language and in many ways. We collaborate effectively, listening carefully to the perspectives of other individuals and groups.”
I love living in Paris and having the opportunity to communicate:
(i) by sharing - through my love of #photography - my observations (sometimes quirky) of daily life and the seasonal changes in Paris
(ii) by speaking #French everyday. I am most proud of the growth I have made since enrolling in classes. Starting October 2023 in B2.2, I am now enrolled in C1.2 classes and “enjoy” (read: challenged by) the nuances and finer elements of #FrenchGrammar.
These two examples speak to my personal connection with the first sentence of the #attribute.
As to the second component, the importance and impact of #EffectiveCollaboration and #CarefulListening is evident in these quotes from #RuthBaderGinsburg and #RobinWilliams
I can not help but muse constantly on the #complexity of #communication …
… be it the ease with which we can be rendered confused or have our wires crossed when communicating in our first language, let alone when doing so in an #AdditionalLanguage or doing so when none of the participants are speaking their #HomeLanguage
… be it the number of languages each individual speaks, do watch Poet Ali’s TED Talk, The language of being human, for fascinating insight that may surprise you
… be it the so called untranslatable concepts like saudade (defined, by Dictionary.com “(in Portuguese folk culture) a deep emotional state of melancholic longing for a person or thing that is absent”) and hiraeth (a Welsh word describing a sense of homesickness which includes a sense of grief and sadness over those whom are lost or departed)
… be it the difference between #speaking and #writing
… be it that some people have great facility as #writers; others have their strength as #orators. Whilst the most fortunate of individuals seem to effortlessly share their erudite and articulate thoughts be it on paper or in person.
As to the latter point, it is interesting to note that #Nabokov - one of the #LiteraryGiants of the Twentieth Century who wrote in his adopted language of #English rather than his native #Russian - stated (in response to the question*, “I notice you "haw" and "er"a great deal. Is it a sign of approaching senility?”), “Not at all. I have always been a wretched speaker. My vocabulary dwells deep in my mind and needs paper to wriggle out into the physical zone. Spontaneous eloquence seems to me a miracle. I have rewritten-- often several times-- every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.” and thus highlights the gulf between #SpontaneousSpeech and #WrittenWork which benefits from the #WritingProcess of #drafting #proofreading #editing #revising and more.
* Nabokov's interview. (01) Anonymous [1962]), https://lib.ru/NABOKOW/Inter01.txt