<strong>Using Flickr as an Informal Language Learning Tool</strong><img class=”size-thumbnail wp-image-5640 alignright” src=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Flickr-150×150.jpg” alt=”” width=”150″ height=”150″ data-mce-src=”https://www.digilanguages.ie/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Flickr-150×150.jpg” /><strong>This task is created</strong><strong> for students </strong><strong>intermediate level (B1 on the CEFRL) or higher.  </strong><strong>You are paired with a student from the your target language country you intend to visit.</strong>Flickr is a social and visual media site  that is designed to allow you to share photos with friends, classmates and others.  A description of the photos can be added that people can comment on.  Flickr users also have a profile which they can use to write about themselves and their interests.This activity allows you to interact with a student from a target language university on a one-to-one basis.On completion of this task, you will be able to:<li>Discuss your beliefs of your target culture with a student from that country.</li><li>Revise your cultural understanding and prepare for mobility with a better idea of the topics discussed.</li><li>Help another student to prepare to visit your country, giving you the opportunity to be a teacher and an ambassador of your home country.</li><li>Use social and visual media to learn in an informal language learning environment.</li><li>Understand digital literacies such as Social Tagging, Social Networking, Geotagging, and Social Bookmarking.</li><li>Converse with a student that is at a similar language level which will aid your language learning.</li>
In this task, you are invited to present a photo that you think accurately represents your home country and the other students is encouraged to offer and revise their own opinions of the image. You will also set up a Skype video chat for discussion. Flickr has been chosen for this task as it is easy to use.<strong>Instructions</strong><li>Students are paired with a student from a university in the target language country.</li><li>One student in each group sets up a <a href=”https://www.flickr.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.flickr.com/”>Flickr</a> group for the other member to join.</li><li>Students source an image that they believe accurately represents their home country.</li><li>Each student uploads their image to the Flickr group, adding a description about the image.</li><li>Students comment on the image that has been uploaded to the Flickr group.<ul><li>Comments should offer an opinion on what is going on in the image based on your understanding of the target culture.</li><li>This activity can be extended to include photo tagging, geo-tagging, image sets and collection.  This <a href=”https://www.cnet.com/news/newbies-guide-to-flickr/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.cnet.com/news/newbies-guide-to-flickr/”>guide </a>may help you understand these features.</li>
</ul>
</li><li>Each group arranges to meet through virtual spaces (such as <a href=”https://www.skype.com/en/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.skype.com/en/”>Skype</a>, <a href=”https://zoom.us/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://zoom.us/”>Zoom.us</a>, <a href=”https://hangouts.google.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://hangouts.google.com/”>Google Hangouts</a> etc).</li><li>Students discuss a topic a range of topics, or the images uploaded to the Flickr group. It is up to each student to correct each other on their cultural understanding and stereotypes, acting as both a student and a teacher.<ul><li>Students can also use this opportunity to discuss their mobility programme destination and identify comparisons between your home country and your mobility programme destination.</li>
</ul>
</li>
Other topics include, but are not limited to, activities such as sports and traditional games in general, school, family, friends, traditions, cultural festivals and food. These topics are discussed to create and improve intercultural understanding.<em><strong>Source/attribution:</strong> DigiLanguages         <strong>Author: </strong>Kieran Moore</em>