There's no novelty that the world pandemic that began in 2020 shook all of us to the
bone. It has indeed been a year that has shifted in many aspects of our lives,
regardless of where we are in the globe. Above all it has been a year with lots of learnings.
As we've seen children, teenagers, and adults using digital environments for their studies,
companies adhering to remote and distributed work. And so many of us using video calls to
celebrate the big moments with our loved ones. Although it wasn't evitable that we would all
need to develop new skills to cope with a rapidly changing and localizing world. The pandemic has
greatly sped up that need. So in this lesson, we are going to talk about the set of skills
that are absolutely crucial for you to develop in order to succeed in this new intertwined world.
I will walk you through what global competencies are and why they're so important. Skills of the
21st Century and abilities that you can start developing now to stand out in 2021. And how
exactly all of this relates to learning English. So in case you're new here every week, we help you
to understand fast native speech, be understood by anyone and connect to the world, just like Obey,
who says that they are overcoming their fear of mistakes thanks to our videos. You will too. So
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Let me ask you this: What comes to your mind when you hear the word "Global competencies"?
Do you think it is the ability to understand and engage with global issues? Is it something
related to interacting with people from different cultures or is it putting together different types
of skills to solve a problem? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are right.
Global competencies are the values, behaviors, and skills combined to understand, appreciate,
engage and act together with people from different cultures towards a collective wellbeing goal. That
means that someone who's developed global competencies is able to recognize different
perspectives, communicate ideas effectively, investigate the world beyond her own environment
and above all take action to create a more diverse and interconnected world. So why is it important?
Developing global competencies is one of the first steps towards global citizenship
that is having the mindset that we can all be a part of the global community.
It's living in a world that goes beyond borders in which each and every person has the potential and
the conditions to live their true identity. Lev Vigotsky said that through others,
we become ourselves. Take us here at this moment, for example. There's a language that connects
us no matter where we are in the world right now, we are able to interact, share and learn from each
other all because we have learned how to speak English. And of course in thanks to the wonder
of the internet. It's no secret that we learn through interaction. You already know that's true
for learning a language well, it's true for other skills as well. The health crisis has proved just
how interconnected we all are. We are all getting closer and closer as an international community
in this quickly emerging digital world. So how can we spur that, that leads us into the skills
that you need in 2021 and beyond into the 21st century. Have you ever heard them before?
They have been in discussion since the early 80's by educators, world leaders, managers,
and so on. They wanted to discover what skills will be needed for current and future generations.
Although there's room for flexibility when implementing such skills, this table paints
a good picture of the abilities that we should aim at developing. You may have noticed that
achieving a high level of university degrees is not at the top of priorities to succeed
and handle the demands of the workplace, learning and innovating in the new century.
That doesn't mean that aiming it to a high level of education is not important. However, the weight
of a degree starts to lose its virtuosity compared to these new abilities. Although each of the 21st
century skills have their own importance as a language learner, you are already a step ahead
in what is called The 4 C's: Critical thinking, Collaboration, Creativity, and Communication.
Learning a new language can be a process of expanding your horizons.
As you get in touch and understand the nuances and cultural aspects of the language you're learning.
That means that your creativity and critical thinking is sharpened.
This means the ability to engage in independent thinking and understand the logical connections
between ideas. You might do that when you choose to read a piece of news from different sources
and the language that is not your mother tongue, or when you watch a video in English exploring
different perspectives on a topic that you already know well in your first language.
Or when you sit down and journal about a problem and you can kill two birds with one stone by
doing that in English. As I mentioned before, we all learn through interaction. So as an English
learner, the more you collaborate and communicate, the more you develop your language skills and your
global competencies. Enhance that by sharing your thoughts and ideas when working in a group,
reach out to a teacher, a manager, or a mentor, and ask them questions about a problem that you
have. Seek solutions by exploring different areas of interest. By the way, one of the best ways
to improve your global competencies is through practice, practice speaking with people from other
countries, cultures, and worldviews on your own. We are big believers in the power of community.
And that is exactly why all of our courses include access to the Fluency Circle Community.
This is a group of English learners from around the world. They're virtually anytime a day,
you can have eye opening conversations with other global citizens and of course, practice your
English at the same time. A great way to learn more is with our Power Learning Mini course,
as an added benefit, this will also help you to greatly improve your English comprehension and has
a lot of fun. So what are you waiting for? Look up here or down the scription to learn more and sign
up? It is absolutely free. Also remember that if you haven't worked on improving your communication
in your mother, tongue, how you listen, relate and respect other people, you will also struggle
to make meaningful relationships through your English and improve your speaking skills.
So what else can you do? There's a range of different abilities you can choose from.
And your current context will certainly dictate which ones you should prioritize.
For example, digital literacy. Become more familiar with the apps,
software and websites, whether in your field of study or work being used right now. For that,
you can watch tutorials on YouTube, search online forums, simply ask your peers for tips.
Nowadays, there are so many free and affordable courses available on Coursera,
Udemy, Skillshare among others, adaptability, be open to changes and embrace learning
and adaptable person sees opportunities where others see failure. To develop adaptability you
have to keep an open mind and force yourself to take risks. It's not always easy. I know, but it's
certainly worth it. Teamwork and cross-cultural interaction working in and with a team involves
commitment. Communication is a key for that to run smoothly. That's even more true when joining
an international team where the language spoken is likely to be English, make sure you know your
role and responsibilities, and don't be afraid of asking questions and clarifying information,
keep a positive mindset and a respectful attitude towards cultural differences.
Don't forget to always be working on yourself. This is important whether speaking
English or your mother tongue. A great place to start is with books like The Seven Habits
of Highly Effective People and How to Win Friends and Influence People. You can read them in English
and also improve your language skills. If you want more books like this, that could change your life
and your English, then check out this lesson. Another skill that is without a doubt crucial
to develop is accountability. This means taking responsibility for your actions without making
excuses, which includes being humble enough to admit when you make mistakes and ask for help,
when needed. Regardless of skill or skills that you choose to invest some time in developing,
here are a few tips for you to start working on them right now. Study things from different
areas. There are so many great channels on YouTube masterclasses books, like the ones that
I mentioned, and so on, just a click away. Reach out to people who are close to you and seek their
advice, ask them about their experiences and what they've learned on the journey. Having a mentor
could change your life. Also talk to people outside of your inner circle. Expand your
horizons, is especially powerful to learn from people who withhold a different perspective than
your own. As for feedback from your boss, your mentor, your teacher, or your coach, and actually
carve out the time to reflect on it. Use it to write your plans, to recalculate your route.
Now, how does all of this relate to learning English, mastering some of these key skills means
that you are already more prepared to deal with this so-called new world. By choosing to learn a
new language, you put yourself out of your comfort zone. You challenge yourself and putting check the
skills that you already mastered. You open all sorts of new doors that were close to you before.
That's why developing emotional intelligence plays a big role in succeeding in 2021 and beyond. To
help you with that in your English journey and personal life ask yourself these questions:
What motivates me? Do I empathize with other people's feelings? Am I helping and being helped
by others? Am I continually bettering myself and growing? If there's one thing 2020 proved
it is that we have no idea of what lies ahead. So there's only so much we can predict about 2021 and
the years to come. It's more important than ever to be prepared for anything. With that being said,
you might as well dance while the music is playing and see each day as a new opportunity to learn.
So thanks again for joining me today. And if you enjoy lessons like this,
then we would love to join you on your English learning journey and to get started it's really
simple. Here's what subscribe button and the button below and you won't miss any of our new
lessons. And now it's time to go beyond the classroom and literary English. Aww yeah!