Learn A Non-Spoken Language

According to the World Federation for the Deaf, there are approximately 70 million deaf or partially deaf people in the World. This number astounded me.

While I was living in New York City, I had a few deaf friends and was amazed at the beauty of sign, so I started picking up a few key words and phrases (mostly naughty).

Whether or not you know someone who is hearing impaired – whether partially or fully – why not go to your local community college or Learning Annex, and take an American Sign Language course.

It’s a great way to broaden your language skills (albeit non-spoken), as well as meeting new people, and learning something new!

Just cuz…

Learn About Other Cultures

The world is full of people – different people – so many different shades.

At times, we become trapped in our own bubble, distracted by our everyday tasks and we tend to forget there’s a whole world outside of our house bubble, work bubble, and social networking bubble.

Why not take an hour a month (or week?) and learn about everyone else?

I just did a quick Google search with the phrase “examples of cultural differences” and came up with a bunch of interesting factoids:

• In the Latin American culture, arriving thirty minutes late for an appointment is considered “on time.”
• In Eastern Asian culture, arriving thirty minutes early is considered “on time.”
• Continental Europeans like to have their supper around 10:00 p.m. (I’m in bed by that time!)
• While in Baghdad, I learned that the American hand signal of “OK” or giving someone a “thumbs up” is an offensive hand gesture in the Middle East.

Learning tidbits like these can give your world an expanded view. Like one of my favorite quotes, some may think is rather cynical, but I think it hits it right on the head: Remember that YOU are UNIQUE! Just like everyone else!

So learn something about someone you may not understand… just cuz…

For more information, check out this Wiki!