Folium: Back to School Traditions From Around the World via Digg

Folium: Back to School Traditions From Around the World via Digg As a school teacher now for almost nineteen years, I wonder how other countries celebrate the start of a new school year. I know for most of my colleagues and myself it starts with nervous twitches, feelings of being overwhelmed, and a few sleepless […]

Folium: No Bones About It – Day of the Dead Is Finding New Life via WSJ

Folium: No Bones About It: Day of the Dead Is Finding New Life One of the Mexican holidays that I have heard a lot about is the Day of the Dead. I always thought that this holiday was nothing more than the Mexican version of Halloween. This article taught me what the Day of the […]

Folium: The Miniature Earth Project

Folium: The Miniature Earth Project (Click to see the ENTIRE infographic!) What if we reduced the global community of 7.13 billion to a village of just 100 people? Would culture-locked Americans gain a better understanding of the differences in the world? And, more importantly, would this understanding help promote dialogue and a tolerance for the […]

Folium: 6 Multilingual Benefits via HuffPost

Folium: 6 Multilingual Benefits via HuffPost I have been a foreign language teacher for 15 years and the complaint that many of my middle and high school students have is “Why do we have to take this class?” I always share with them that taking a foreign language can help you with your other classes […]

Folium: Two Is A Crowd via NYTimes

Folium: Two Is A Crowd via NYTimes “Physical contact between two people…can be perfectly correct in one culture, and absolutely taboo in another”. Edward T Hall, 1968 So… about 93 to 97% of all communication between human beings is non-verbal – an encouraging statistic for those who never really understood the benefit of learning all […]

Folium: How Languages Evolve via TED

Folium via How Languages Evolve via TED What is language? According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, “language” is the “body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, or the same cultural tradition.” The dictionary entry continues on through six […]

Folium: The 100 Most Beautiful Places via YourAmazingPlaces

The 100 Most Beautiful Places via YourAmazingPlaces Wow! As I look through the 100 pictures of the most beautiful places in the world, I am just amazed at what a beautiful world we live in.  I love to travel and I am an adventurer.  I believe that if you are learning a language that you […]

Folium: Dining Etiquette From Around the World via JoinDarkSide

Dining Etiquette From Around the World via JoinDarkSide (Click for Graphic!) “Do NOT talk with food in your mouth!”  Every child has probably heard this phrase at one time or another as well as “Keep your elbows off the table.”  Both of these phrases correspond to the dining etiquette that is part of the American […]

Folium: The Science of Learning a New Language via Lifehacker

The Science of Learning a New Language via Lifehacker It is a natural instinct for children to learn new languages, but as we get older, it becomes more difficult to learn and retain new languages. A child’s brain has much more plasticity, or the ability to create new neurons and synapses. By adulthood, this ability […]

Folium: Legitimate Voluntourism via NPR

Folium: Legitimate Voluntourism via NPR The Folium archives contain many articles on how you can volunteer and study abroad for little to no cost. But I must admit that this is the first article that actually discusses the impact of these new volunteer opportunities on the populations that they serve. Study abroad or travel experiences […]