2. Bad manners throughout the world

This recipe by Hannes Vogler from the university preparation programme of the Universities of Vienna in Austria is all about improving language knowledge and getting to know foreign cultures through a common goal.

Ingredients:

* A group of international language learners, who are expected to use the target language as their means of communication in daily life.
* Designing a brochure as a goal for a group of students.

Preparation:

A decision is made concerning what each student must contribute to the project. In this case: they conduct interviews with colleagues from other countries, “What must I do, to commit an embarrassing blunder in your homeland?”

The students are then told to carry out this assignment. Occasional meetings are used for checking, assistance and language work. At the end the required brochure is produced from the results. Each collaborator receives a copy as a souvenir.

A special flavour:

Owing to the abundance of “normal” travel guides, the topic was given an ironic twist. This even gave rise to a guide on “Bad Manners throughout the World”.

Would you like to know more?

Click here for a more detailed description of the project!
You can contact the project manager at hannes.vogler@univie.ac.at.