Tag: intercultural

A Sense of Belonging +++ Absolutely Intercultural 321

Hello dear listeners, and welcome to show 321 of Absolutely Intercultural!

Have you ever been in a room where everyone was friendly, everyone smiled and yet you still felt like an outsider? Maybe people invited you in, and made an effort to include you but something still felt different, like you were standing at the edge of a circle instead of being completely inside it.

Today, we are talking about something many people experience when they move to a new place, start at a new university, or enter a new community – the Feeling of Belonging. My name is Jerusha, and in today’s episode, we are exploring what it really means to feel like we belong, to feel at home somewhere.

Belonging is not always created through big moments. Sometimes, it is the small things that stay with us – someone making an effort to understand where we come from, remembering something about our culture, or simply making us feel that we are not just present, but that we are part of the group.

As always, here on Absolutely Intercultural, everyone is free to think and say absolutely anything. The stories we share today come from personal experiences and we want to remind you that each story gives us a chance to look at belonging from a different perspective, and a single story does not represent everyone.

In this episode, we will hear from three guests about finding a sense of belonging.

In our first story, Absolutely Unseen, we hear from Marlo, who takes us into moments when belonging felt uncertain. Her story explores how the feeling of belonging can be shaped by the way we see ourselves, and by the way others see us.

In our second story, Absolutely Included, we meet Marla, who talks about her work with international students and the different ways their team creates opportunities for students to feel welcomed and included on campus. Through her story, we get a glimpse of how small interactions and support systems can make a big difference in helping students feel like they belong.

In our final story, Absolutely Connected, we meet Iris, who shares her journey of finding belonging through teaching. She talks about how she adapts the way she teaches to make her students feel comfortable, included, and like they are truly part of the classroom.

Together, these stories invite us to think about a simple question.

What makes a place feel like home?

Is it the people around us? The moments when we feel understood? Or the feeling that we no longer have to question whether we belong?

Maybe belonging is not something we simply find. It is something that grows through the relationships we build, the spaces we share, and the way we choose to include one another.

We would love to hear your stories. Leave a comment on our website, send us an email, or reach out if you would like to be a guest.

Don’t forget that we are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you from Anne Fox in Denmark on 4th of September, 2026.

Chief Editor: Jerusha Antipas (Indian).
Assistant Editor: Livia Tafili (Albanian).

English for childcare +++ Sabrina Wilson +++ absolutely intercultural 320 +++

Ceci n’est pas un bidet – Magritte-style illustration of a bidet — Ceci n’est pas un bidet– Magritte-style illustration of a duvet (btw we know the French word for duvet is different!).

It’s coming up to the summer break and for some of us this means graduation and next steps. If you spent a semester abroad, you might now be considering a longer stay. Maybe you are part of a couple. Maybe children are part of the story too. In this show we meet Sabrina Wilson, an American living in Spain who specialises in English for childcare—whether that’s for au pairs or for parents on international assignments.

Welcome to show 320 of Absolutely Intercultural, the show about all things intercultural. My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark.

We’ll be talking to Sabrina, who was herself an au pair in the UK. Not much to learn, you might think—but still, there were challenges! Sabrina is all about solving immediate problems, such as when one of her students took a job in a coffee shop to improve her English but didn’t know all the specialist coffee vocabulary. And we’ll end with some good advice from Sabrina: it’s not always your fault!

absolutely au pair
So let’s start the show and go absolutely au pair, and find out what Sabrina at English for Childcare has discovered about the challenges faced by au pairs and by teachers in the early years of international schools.

absolutely strategic
As I talked to Sabrina, I began to realise that it was all about practical strategies for her clients.

absolutely successful
And finally, I wanted to find out how Sabrina measures success with all these different clients. That last point is very important: it’s not always your fault when things go wrong linguistically.

Thanks to Sabrina for sharing her stories and experiences. Maybe you have a comment or a story relating to what you’ve just heard. We’d love to hear from you, and you can write us a message on this post as a comment, where you’ll find links to Sabrina’s online school and all our past shows.

Don’t forget that we are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you on the seventh of August.

Until then, stay tuned!

Editor: Anne Fox (French/British)

migrant entrepreneurship +++ Polychronopoulos +++ Norway +++ 100€ company +++ Absolutely Intercultural 318 +++

In the last show we heard about different working cultures but what if you are newly arrived in the country and you cannot get a job because you don’t speak the language, your qualifications and experience are not recognised and other challenges? In that case you may consider starting your own business.

Welcome to absolutely intercultural, show 318. My name’s Anne Fox, this show is coming from Denmark and today we have an expert on what we can call migrant entrepreneurs. Dimitris Polychronopoulus, himself a Greek migrant to Norway, has just completed a PhD on the topic of how best to support migrant entrepreneurs. I wanted to ask him about whether there are certain types of businesses that migrants set up, what challenges they face and what sort of help is most effective.

And at the very end of the show we’ll find out about a possible development in the EU that could help you set up a business more easily as you move between countries.

absolutely typical
Let’s go absolutely typical and find out first if there is such a thing as a typical migrant entrepreneur profiles.

So the transnational business is often a defence mechanism, you know you will probably succeed when you start getting native customers as well as your fellow country folk and you don’t just need finance to start a business but also use your human capital, which is your education and experience, and your social capital, which is that dreaded word, your network.

And it’s great news that the EU may be able to help by allowing people to set up a limited company for 100€ very soon. Fingers crossed.

If you want to share your experiences of migrant entrepreneurship on the podcast then let us know by adding a comment on the website

Don’t forget that we are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you on the fifth of June from Germany.

Until then, stay tuned!

Editor: Anne Fox (French/British)

USA +++ UK +++ Zach moves abroad +++ Absolutely Intercultural 316+++

Welcome to Absolutely Intercultural show number 316. My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark. In the last few weeks I began to see lots of videos by Zach Lincoln, an American who is moving to Europe. Why would he move to Europe?

One of the things that struck me about Zach’s videos is that he is very good at noticing cultural differences.

Zach has by now produced many videos about his family’s experiences in the UK and Spain. I put two of them on here and you can surely find the rest by searching for Zach Moves Abroad.

So for the rest of the show let’s go absolutely observant and meet Zach Lincoln.

Absolutely observant
Huge thanks to Zach for agreeing to talk with me and you can find many more of his videos on Facebook, Tiktok and Instagram by just searching for Zach moves abroad. If you have moved to the UK would you have picked the same topics as Zach or something entirely different? We’d love to hear if you have moved countries or continents. How did you cope with the cultural differences? If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment on this website where you can also listen to all our previous shows.

Don’t forget that we are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you on the third of April.

Until then, stay tuned!

Produced by Anne Fox

En-ROADS +++ Climate Interactive +++ climate policies +++ Susan Golden +++ absolutely intercultural 314 +++

Happy New Year?

How would you ensure that the world does not raise average temperatures above 1.5 degrees? “Kill all the cows!” was one answer. “Shut down all the coal mines!” was another when I asked my conference audience in Albania last month.

Welcome to Show 314 of Absolutely Intercultural, the podcast about all things intercultural. My name’s Anne Fox and this show is coming to you from Denmark. It’s the first show of 2026 so I should be wishing everyone a Happy New Year, but I know that many people are worried about the state of the world; one of those issues being climate change and the effects it will have and is already having on our lives.

How would you solve it?

A tool that could help is the one-page website, En-ROADS, that you can use for free to see the effects of your suggestions to reduce global warming. En-ROADS shows you the main policies that could be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and their effects on global average temperature. Of course, that depends on the type and extent of the policies you choose. You can use En-ROADS to find out which would be the most effective policies.

Spoiler alert! No one policy works on its own.

absolutely climate interactive!

En-ROADS allows you to explore in real time the effects of eating less meat, taxing oil and gas, planting more trees and many other options. The simulator shows you what will happen if we carry on as we are with existing policies, a rise of 3.3 degrees Celsius, and what could happen if we change those policies. Just as one example, you could move the slider on nuclear energy to increase the subsidy on new nuclear energy plants to encourage more clean energy. En-ROADS is a simulator based on the most up to date and reliable information and was built to help the top tier of policy makers, you know, the ones that attend the annual COP meetings. But it can also help you to think about what’s possible in your local context or organisation.

Climate Interactive, the organisation that built the En-ROADS simulator with MIT Sloan, offers free training courses in using and understanding the simulator and once you become expert at it, you can be an En-ROADS ambassador. There are En-ROADS ambassadors all over the world and I spoke to one of them, Susan Golden, who is an ambassador in the USA, about who uses En-ROADS and what they get out of it.

We’d love to hear if you have tried out En-ROADS on the Climate Interactive page. Did you manage to bring projected global warming down? If so, how did you do it? How realistic do you think your policies were? How did they compare to my conference audience that you heard at the beginning of the show? Is there anything you could change in your local context that would help with the overall aim of bringing down average global temperatures? If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment on our website where you can also listen to all our previous shows.

Don’t forget that we are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you, as usual, on the first Friday of next month.
Until then, stay tuned!

Produced by Anne Fox

Modern Values and Religion +++ Marriage +++ Fasting +++ Progressive vs Conservative +++ Absolutely Intercultural 313

Hello dear listeners and welcome to show 313 of our podcast Absolutely Intercultural. Our topic today is one that touches the core of many societies: “Are modern values diluting religion?” We live in a time of rapid change, where new social norms often clash with centuries-old traditions. Does this mean faith is watering down, or is it simply evolving? Today, we will hear from three guests with very different perspectives on whether modern life and traditional belief can coexist.

As always, here at Absolutely Intercultural, everyone is free to think and say absolutely anything. However, we understand that today’s topic might stir up strong emotions. If you feel triggered by any of the opinions shared, please feel free to take a short break.

In our first story, absolutely faithful, we will listen to Matthias, a student and coach who believes modern values are indeed diluting religion. He argues that faith provides necessary direction but admits that fitting traditional values into today’s world is a struggle.

In our second story, absolutely secular, we will hear from Oleksii, a student who transitioned from believer to atheist. He shares why he doesn’t need religion, fasting, or prayer to be a good person, yet he maintains a deep respect for those who do believe.

In our last story, absolutely inclusive, we will listen to Louisa. She challenges the idea that modern values dilute religion. Instead, she focuses on marriage and the LGBT community, arguing that the Church must adapt its rules to be more just and inclusive.

In our first story, absolutely faithful, we have Matthias. Matthias is a student but, and for him, the dilution of religion by modern values is a real concern. He believes that believing in God is essential and that the Catholic Church is doing a good job guiding people.

What about you? Do you think modern values are a threat to religion, or are they saving it from becoming irrelevant? We’d love to hear your stories! You can leave a comment, send us an email, or even reach out for a follow-up interview.

On our web page, absolutely-intercultural.com, you can get more information about this show and previous episodes. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too.

Our next show will be coming to you on 2 January from Anne Fox in Denmark. Until then – Bleiben Sie absolut interkulturell!

The host of this show is: Lorena Peposhi (Albanian)

Chief Editor: Oleksii Tsapenko (Ukrainian)
Assistant Editor: Lorena Peposhi (Albanian), Eltun Khudiev (Azerbaijani)

DEI +++ Verónica Higareda +++ authenticity +++ Absolutely Intercultural 312

absolutely poetic
This show is about DEI, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and in a first for the podcast, we’ll go absolutely poetic and start with a poem.
The book, in which this poem by Alan Maley appeared, is available free of charge from the British Council. It’s called Integrating global issues in the creative English language classroom .

Verónica Higareda, based in the Basque Country and originally from Califonia, is a DEI and Equity-Centered Behavior Management Consultant and an ELT educator with over 20 years of experience. Click here to find out more.

absolutely profitable
Let’s find out more about why DEI is absolutely profitable.

absolutely authentic
In this next segment we’ll breakdown the components of DEI and hear about different ways in which teachers can bring it to the classroom. In the end it’s all about enabling everyone involved to be their authentic selves so let’s go absolutely authentic.

absolutely trained
Verónica wants to help teachers make this happen in the classroom so I asked her to tell us more about her upcoming course. How are teachers to become absolutely trained?

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is about reflection and dialogue, it’s about enabling everyone to bring their authentic selves to the classroom or work. If diversity is the science (of metrics) then inclusion is the art, and equity means equal access.In the classroom it is about providing mirrors, so you see yourself, and windows, so you see others. Thanks to Veronica for telling us more about this topical idea.
What about you? Do you bring your authentic self to work or school? What would make that easier? If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment on our website where you can also listen to all our previous shows.

We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you, as usual, on the first Friday of next month.
Until then, stay tuned!

Produced by Anne Fox

eco-anxiety +++ Harry Waters +++ ELT +++ positive anger +++ absolutely intercultural 210 +++

You thought you were signing up for an English class and the teacher wants to persuade you to become a change maker. Could this be a way of coping with eco-anxiety? But are there any limits on what you can do in an educational setting?

Welcome to show number 310 of absolutely intercultural. My name’s Anne Fox and I’ve been talking to Harry Waters, a teacher in Spain about using English teaching to connect it with sustainability.

absolutely heroic
First I wanted to find out why Harry does that and then I asked him about the book, Activities for a Greener Mindset” which he wrote to share his ideas more widely with other teachers.

absolutely legal
It occurred to me that some of the activities Harry was proposing may not be received equally enthusiastically everywhere so let’s go, absolutely legal.

absolutely emotional
The reason I got in touch with Harry in the first place was that I had heard him talk about harnessing the power of emotion in his sustainability work. You may have heard that eco-anxiety is a thing but Harry interprets it much more widely than that so let’s go absolutely emotional.

So, are you using your anger for good? Are you a change maker and if so, where did that come from? If you want more ideas then I suggest looking through Harry’s book, Activities for a Greener Mindset: Integrating sustainable learning in the ELT classroom. There’s a free sample on the publisher’s website. Also don’t forget to check out the Climate Mental Health Network website. You can also leave us a comment here.

If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment on our website where you can also listen to all our previous shows.

We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you, as usual, on the first Friday of next month, October 3rd.
Until then, stay tuned!

Produced by Anne Fox

Fahad Siddiqui +++ Razia Sultana +++ Young Trees +++ Bambu +++ Absolutely Intercultural 309 +++

This question about male and female leadership styles is prompted by a female Indian sultan who ruled from 1236. Welcome to Show 309 of Absolutely Intercultural, the show about all things intercultural. Today I’m very happy to be talking once again with Fahad Siddiqui who I last spoke to in 2023 about his plan to teach children about amazing historical figures from all around the globe. So how have children been reacting to stories about the world’s richest man or Razia Sultana, the Indian Sultan?

absolutely successful
Fahad’s company, which is now called Young Trees, has many different aspects including children’s books, a commitment to sharing profits and now a lesson planning tool for teachers, so this was a chance for me to catch up with how things were going and also to ask about the latest book and the new AI tool. So in our first segment, absolutely successful, I asked Fahad how the untold stories of ancient heroes had gone down with teachers and children.

absolutely timely
One reason that Young Trees has several strands is that they are concerned about both the long and the short term; the long term is the effect of the books, while the short term includes their partnership with the charity CamFed in order to achieve immediate benefit. In our next segment, absolutely timely, I started by asking Fahad about what he hoped the effect of his books would be on his young readers by the time they got to young adulthood?

absolutely engaging
As I was looking through the new Young Trees website, I was very interested to see their new lesson planner tool, Bambu which is focused on creating offline learning experiences. So I asked Fahad about this in our final segment, absolutely engaging.

What about you? Who are your historical heroes? Are they mostly from your own country? Have any of them shaped your thinking about for example, male and female roles? If you have a story to tell on this or any related topic then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment here where you can also listen to all our previous shows. We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating. And if you enjoyed the show, please like us on Facebook too. 

Our next show will be coming to you, as usual, on the first Friday of next month, September 5th.

Until then, stay tuned!

Produced by Anne Fox