[OSList] Bi-lingual open space

[Harrison Owen]

Chuni-Several languages. Wonderful! Having been "there" multiple times -
once with 15 different languages - I have always found it the richest of
experiences. If you follow all the wonderful, detailed suggestions of Lisa I
know it will turn out just grand. But personally I find myself much closer
to Katia. I guess that is not surprising considering my affection for
thinking of one less thing to do.

 

My approach comes from some considerable experience in good international
bars (go ahead and say something nasty about martinis J) - and one of the
things I have always noticed and enjoyed was that as the evening went along,
anybody who really wanted to talk to anybody else always managed to
accomplish their desire. The conversation might take a little time and pass
through multiple languages and persons, but the essential messages were
always delivered. Self organization at work, I think.  And something else
happened along the way.  As people were helping people they bonded in the
process. By evening's end, total strangers had become pretty good friends.
Doubtless the alcohol helped, but there was more than that - related to the
fact that helping each other is a good thing in itself. And all of a sudden
the disparate languages became a positive support for emerging community. 

 

So I advocate using the Principles of a Good International Bar (Is that the
6th Principle?). When people want to communicate, they will do that and the
effect of their effort goes way beyond the simple passage of words. To help
out, I have used little lapel flags representing languages spoken (like the
airlines) - so if you were looking for somebody who spoke Serbo-Croatian you
might find them. This can help when you only have two languages - however,
it is almost easier just to ask people (that is a nice civil thing to do).
Bottom line in my experience is that language is a problem only if you make
it one. If the people care, they will find a way, and be stronger for the
effort.

 

Harrison  

 

Harrison Owen

7808 River Falls Dr.

Potomac, MD 20854

USA

 

189 Beaucaire Ave. (summer)

Camden, Maine 20854

 

Phone 301-365-2093

(summer)  207-763-3261

 

www.openspaceworld.com

www.ho-image.com (Personal Website)

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From: oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org
[mailto:oslist-bounces at lists.openspacetech.org] On Behalf Of
chunili2000 at yahoo.com
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 9:29 PM
To: World wide Open Space Technology email list
Subject: [OSList] Bi-lingual open space

 

Hello All,

 

I am working on a state-wide initiative to bring people together to address
"How Can Creativity and Innovation Revitalize New Jersey." 

One of the communities we are planning an open space for has a large Spanish
speaking population. To host an inclusive event, we very much want to
include these people who don't speak English.

Does anyone have experience organizing a bi-lingual open space?

Did you use a translator? Did you repeat everything in both languages? How
did you handle the break-out discussions?

 

Thank you so much for sharing!

 

Chuni Li

New Jersey

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