the Project

I realised my introduction did not really explain why on earth I decided to call the blog Project: Internationalisation. Well, yes, the 'project' bit does have to do with the fact that I watch too much TV - or too much of the shows that are about agents, spying and saving the world from terrorists - but it also has to do with work, as in the working life everything is about projects, project teams, project funding etc. And internationalisation is a project - generally, of any person, and especially of me. A life-long project I believe (and hope such good fun it is that I hope it never ends ;)!).
So what's this project internationalisation about? Quite simply - about internationalisating, i.e. becoming international or developing to become more international. See what the Wiktionary says > http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/internationalization .
So it's a process (i.e. should see some development here later.. ). A process that involves the willingness to learn and develop, theory and practical experiences as the content of the development, and reflection and assessment as the means of development. This blog works as a way of reflection and assessment, measuring the development - or if indeed any internationalisation is really going on at all... For me, the theory and practical experience (weight on the latter) are present in my everyday work and life in general, so there's a lot to reflect on. For anyone studying or working at Laurea, internationality is part of their studies and work in one form or another. It does not only mean having to practice language skills every now and then, nor does it mean that you must go on an exchange abroad to be international. There all several different ways (for both theory and practice) to internationalise one self, varying from studies that concentrate on international issues or are carried out in international settings to international tutoring or acting as a 'god family' for a foreign student to studying and working abroad or as part of international cooperation networks and projects. (Do go to www.laurea.fi > studies > internationalisation of studies for more.)
Quoting from the wiktionary, international is "Of or having to do with more than one nation". I suppose I really should click on the edit button, as I think it's much more. Its essential how the 'to do' part is carried out. Every tourist visiting a foreign country is not international if they are not in interaction with the foreign culture and are not affected at all, if they do not go home with a bit of extra; be it new information, experiences, development.. Being international has to do with knowledge, skills and competence regarding foreign cultures and nations, and especially about the competence related to interaction and communication with foreign cultures and nations. This involves a lot of reflection; being able to recognise one's own culture and way of communication, as well as the foreign culture and way of communication, and seeing the differences and similarities and acting accordingly. Good manners and sensitivity to diverse situations come in handy.. :)
Being about competence, internationality as an attribute needs updating and 'maintenance'. Or simply: international interaction regularly. One can be international one day and lose the ability later - although never totally if the international experiences have made genuine changes in a person's way of thinking, opinions, attitude or ethics. The need for updating and maintenance makes internationalisation a process - or a project.

Always start with an introduction

One of the most important rules in writing. Always start with an introduction. Tell the reader what you are going to tell him. Introduction, the text, and a closing that wraps it all up and makes the reader think. And each paragraph has an introductory sentence, the issue it self and an ending sentence that leads the reader on to the next paragraph..
I learned to write in English at Starthclyde University under the supervision of Kathy, one of the best teachers I've ever had. Well, obviously I could write before that as well, and in English also, after all I had managed to get into the university - but writing essays, reports, thesis and other texts of professional matter is a wholly different skill. A skill that I might not demonstrate so well during the writing of this blog as I will let my thoughts 'run wild' on this one.
This 'running wild' brings out another issue regarding writing in English: vocabulary. Sure I'll have to have a peek at the dictionary and thesaurus every now and then since English is my second language, but more than that I mean the different meanings of words and spelling among the English used in different parts of the globe. My English is a mixture of the Canadian English I first learned when I was about 17, with a bit of Glaswegian vocabulary and Irish accent added and well kneaded together with the Finnish English I have retrograded to after my journeys abroad. Do not have a clue what I'm on about? I'll give you a practical example (love examples, being a practical person myself..) When someone asks you to write your information on to a form, would they ask you to fill in a form or fill out a form? In this dilemma Finnish is not helpful at all, because in Finnish you would say fill form (täytä lomake), which in English is just bad English and a quite rude way of telling someone to do something.
I run into these kinds of dilemmas nearly every day. If not in my own writing, then in other people's writing. At Laurea, we have approximately 200 foreign exchange students studying each academic year from over 20 different countries, all with different levels of English language, internationality and experience on foreign cultures. So when a French woman writes to you "a demand to ..", do you take offence and think what right does she have to demand anything from me?! I did. At first. The thought disappeared in a bout haft a minute and I realised she has perhaps made a bit too strong of a choice in words and did not mean it quite so.. So I'll just disregarded it in my answer to her and give her a hint that when communicating in an international environment, it's better to be awfully nice and ask for the things you want instead of going right ahead and setting demands. But what I did not realise - until a wiser colleague who masters French (my knowledge does not go beyond Qui and Merci) brought it up - was that it might just have been a bad translation on the French students behalf. Apparently there's a French word very close to the English word demand and it means request.
Hmm. Fascinating, communicating in an international environment, that is. Learn new things all the time, become more international.. Right. I’m off to see what the e-mails from Poland, Taiwan and Spain have got in store for me today!