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International Collaboration-Tips

16 Jul
International Collaboration-Tips

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Collaboration and Coaching
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Introduction

This is the English version of my French blog post ===> Collaboration internationale-trucs et astuces <=== which was created in 2009. I will use this English version to create a collaboration together with other authors, where WE will bring in collaboratively OUR experiences. First author, who helped me to correct my bad English and who contributed also is Mindy KIM. You will find her contribution with the initials [MK]. Thanks Mindy.

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International Collaboration

sharing iconTips and tricks that help you with international collaboration. Some bloggers create different blogs, with different languages, as ​​interest of exchange of knowledge. This blog will give you tips and tricks for managing your organization, different time zones and languages, different laws, translations, support for publication, etc..
 
 

What you should know:

Some bloggers speaking different languages ​​have a desire to share their knowledge in different languages, why not? This is a commendable initiative that deserves to be supported by a blog offering tips and tricks to manage the transmission of knowledge in different countries and especially in different languages.

Good manners, such as greeting somebody (Hello, Hi…) also and especially on Internet (on Internet it is disappearing almost), saying “Thank you” to somebody and “please” are “keywords” for showing “Respect” to each other.

In my country (Luxembourg in Europe) we even say that those words are the “keys” that open all the doors… 

Different authors with different cultures are trying to meet and share their knowledge on a blog to break out the distances among themselves.

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It is a bit like visiting another country, you must learn about (will be complemented by links):
 
Country information, including:
  • the mentality of the locals
  • Different cultures
  • customs of the country and the holidays from these countries
  • Internet laws from these countries
  • Etiquette (in general)
  • the time zone of the country
  • the favorite sport of the country
  • the country’s policy
  • interesting websites from these countries
  • national and regional gourmet menus
  • jealousy 
  • Responsibility of sharing!!! Make sure that the shared articles and links are trustful and don’t contain MALWARE!!!
  • etc..
Why do I mention things that a priori have nothing at all to do with writing (create) blogs, seems weird, right?
In fact, it’s not weird at all, on reflection. As we create blogs, sooner or later we face comments, comments from bloggers, experts in different countries of ours, coupled with our mentality and knowing a little information on these countries helps facilitate the conversion and is also beneficial to create friendships. There are no boundaries between humans when they are well informed, when they have open minds, accept different points of view, and mind their own ideas and beliefs.
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Bloggers may face in the first instance (without realizing immediately):

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  • jet lag
  • language: there are different expressions as learned in school. Typical expressions of countries and we do not know and / or not well or not at all (??)
  • the mentality of the people of these countries are other than ours
  • temperament of different countries, the mentality of the country “called” the “South” is more “warm”, while the mentality of the country, “said” the “North” is “cold”, misunderstood comments may be unavoidable …
  • different education
  • the educational hierarchy (my degree is higher than yours [this is also the same in our own country]
  • a different religion
  • a different policy, not all countries have democracy …
  • the living standards of people in these countries
  • the competitive spirit of a country to another (which one is better?)
  • the different characters (sympathy, antipathy)
  • etc..
  • [MK] Know how to address someone respectfully.
  • [MK] Know formal introductions in another language.

Tip: in order not to face immediately problems it is to recommend not to publish in collaborative blogs on religion and politics, because everyone has their own vision …

Many factors must be considered when one is dealing with different nationalities!
To give you leads, tips and tricks, we will begin in stages, below (the) first (s) step (s).
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[MK] Knowing whether or not to speak formally or informally is important. In many countries how you address someone in conversation becomes the stepping stones to building a relationship. It can be off putting to address someone informally from another country. Formal introductions and formal language protocols are important to many cultures and are identifying factors of respect, cultural identity, and the effort of another person entering a new culture.
[MK] Ask questions when learning about another culture. Keying in on areas that help understand cultural norms, expectations, and differences are essential steps in building a foundation that strengthen the ability to collaborate. Thus, increasing, global interactions, collaboration, learning, and partnerships that propel ones Professional Learning Network.
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Ethics on the internet

book-question-markOn the Internet, we users (those who use the Internet) are both a transmitter and receiver. We use the internet, this service is bi-directional (two way), and exposes us to interventions without borders. As a result we are faced with interpersonal barriers, culture, society, etc.. In order not to make missteps it is advisable to apply sincerity, traditional values ​​of honesty, courtesy, politeness, civility, fairness, integrity, confidentiality, which are the foundations of human civilization .

Related Links:

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Time Zones

clockFor time zones: the internet gives us lots of free sources (not always reliable either, download only from reliable sources!) to benefit from tools that make our lives easier.

Why is it important to know about the time zones?
[MK] You want to make sure your blogs and posts on Social Media are read by your visitors, right?  You want your blogs and posts on Social Media are also read by your visitors, isn’t it? Then you must also know the time where your visitors are most present on WordPress or other blogging platforms and on Social Media Twitter. This space of time also varies from one country to another, it is advisable to observe for a few weeks, only visiting at different times, these platforms in different countries for you to realize when it is the best time to post a blog (save the blog). [MK] platforms will help you realize when it is the best time to post a blog (save the blog).
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Only after having surveyed the territory on WordPress, for example, you’ll realize that quite often (you) see a blog post every minute, even several blogs per minute. So there is certainly (not the) time to publish your blog, it will be lost faster than it has been published. We need a period of time when the publication of blogs is not so active so that your blog has a chance of being detected.
Or at home watches turning otherwise as in other countries, or that there are time differences up to 11 (eleven) hours, then it is important to know what time it is in these countries and which countries are visiting other WordPress platforms or other … That is why it is essential to install a free software that provides us with the different time zones. One such reliable tools is free software:
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Download the software at the following URL:
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More details for the configuration and use on the developer’s website here: InstantTimeZone
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Related Links:
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book-question-mark

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Here below a screenshot from World Time Buddy, very interesting and existing ALSO as an App.

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World Time Buddy

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Translation Tools

sharing-iconIt is advisable to bring translation tools, because very few people (those) who arrive suddenly to will write in a different language other than their mother tongue, (will need to to be able to utilize these tools).

On the internet we can find free sources that help us in this task, but these tools are only an aid. They will not be able to translate your texts completely. Many times these translations give us a good laugh, because their translations are poor quality, but it is enough to save you from a lot of work. You take the rough translation and you adjust correctly, there is still work to do, but also savings additional work.  
 
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Below is a non-exhaustive list of translation software:
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On WordPress:

About WordPress, it is advisable to contact the   Scientific foreign co-authors or literary, which speak our language better than you own. It will help you translate your blog.  
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Online Dictionaries

book-question-markAs we write in a language other than our mother tongue it is obvious that we do not find all the words that we need to write our blog (or other document), then at that time a dictionary is welcome . Of course we also find free software on the internet, including below a non-exhaustive list:

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[MK] Consider this starting from… it is obvious that we do not find all the words that we need to write our blog…

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Grammar Online Tools

Of course we are not perfect, far from it, especially as regards the grammatical errors and misspellings. On the internet you can also find online tools where you can check your texts, below is a list:

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Different Countries, Different Units Of Measure

Online converter
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 Click the above image to access the “Online Converter”.
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Responsibility Of Sharing!

programmerman2[GM] When WE are sharing articles and especially links WE MUST make sure that WE don’t share MALWARE infected stuff! WE would “infect” OTHERS computer’s (smartphones) with such an action, so be aware, please. WE should learn about the basics of Cyber Security as a GOOD Digital Citizen, which is actually NOT that difficult 😉 Please follow my FREE courses and tutorials below, please:

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Check ALSO the screenshot below, who shows infected and malicious sites.

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ScreenHunter_05 May. 05 16.45

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Special Characters

Almost every country uses different keyboards adapted to their language, they have provisions in different keys. These provisions are key:
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  • QWERTY keyboard, used in some Francophone countries (France and Belgium)
  • QWERTY keyboard designed for English, a language without writing accents
  • QWERTZ keyboard.
When a French person/individual wants to write in German, it will not automatically create the special characters (ü, ö, ä, ß, etc.). Available on the keyboard, same thing for a German who wants to write in French, will certainly not automatically use special characters (é, è, à, ê, â, etc..). Unless, as in Luxembourg and Switzerland, where their multilingualism / French keyboards “QWERTZ” version Switzerland is used. On these keyboards there are German and French characters available on the keyboard.  And then there are also keyboards for Greek languages, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, etc..
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Related Links:
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help-books-aj-svgajash01
It is also possible, in Windows, open the “Character” to select characters that are not present on your computer. To do this (in Windows XP), click “Start” (bottom left of the screen), followed by a click on “All Programs.” Then select “Accessories,” followed by a click on “System Tools.” A shortcut menu appears. Select “Character”.
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Under Windows7, it’s the same …
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special characters
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The following screen is displayed. Choose your special character to include in your document.
At the same time you are informed about the name of the special character, and the way how you can integrate it using the “Alt” keys and the numeric keypad.
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In our example “C CEDILLA” for the name of the special character and pressing the “Alt”key and hold down simultaneously typing the numbers “0231” on the numeric keypad only (located to the right of your keyboard), which gives by releasing the “Alt” letter “ç” key.
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 Authors Social Media Accounts, Connect With Them

sharing-icon[GM] Gust MEES: I am present on:

[MK] Mindy KIM: I am present on:

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Stay tuned for next blog posts 😉

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13 Comments

Posted by on July 16, 2014 in 21st Century Skills, 21st-Century-Teaching-and-Learning, Annotum-Theme, Articles with co-authors, Better Learning, Better Teaching, Blog creation, Blogs, Coaching, Collaboration, Competency, Connected Educators, Critical Thinking, Culture, Education, eLearning, Engagement, Free courses, FREE-courses, Future Work Skills, Global, Global Collaboration, How To stay organized, HowTo, Learning about Twitter, Learning to Learn, Luxembourg, Multicultural Articles, PKM, PLN, PracTICE, Proactive Thinking, Professional Development, Quality Courses, Reality, Responsibility, Right use of Technology, Rise Of The Professional Educator, Social Media, Technology Integration, Twitter

 

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