Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 the worlds hidden inside words by Mili Sethia 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 A little about me 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 A little about me I’ve always wanted to travel the world and discover myself. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 who i am 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 who i am Ahmedabad rajasthan my family migrated from here a two generations ago I was born here 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 who i am rajasthan Mumbai my family migrated from here a two generations ago I lived most of my life here Ahmedabad I was born here 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 I went back here for high school who i am Ahmedabad rajasthan Mumbai my family migrated from here a two generations ago I lived most of my life here 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 I went back here for high school who i am Ahmedabad rajasthan Mumbai Bangalore my family migrated from here a two generations ago I lived most of my life here I went to university here 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Ahmedabad rajasthan Mumbai Bangalore Shanghai Today, I find myself here. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Ahmedabad rajasthan Mumbai Bangalore Shanghai It’s no mean distance. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 my “global footprint” Ahmedabad rajasthan Mumbai Bangalore Shanghai 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 the cultural blind spots graph 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 the cultural blind spots graph appearance conscious thoughts conscious thoughts culture language 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 the cultural blind spots graph appearance unconscious thoughts conscious thoughts conscious thoughts culture language 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 the cultural blind spots graph appearance appearance unconscious thoughts conscious thoughts conscious thoughts culture culture language language 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 the critique 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 to reconsider one’s own culture before it dies the need 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 to reconsider one’s own culture before it dies INDIVIDUAL need the need 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 to compare cultural perceptions to reconsider one’s own culture before it dies INDIVIDUAL need the need 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 to compare cultural perceptions social need to reconsider one’s own culture before it dies INDIVIDUAL need the need 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 to use existing cultural links, enable empathy to compare cultural perceptions social need to reconsider one’s own culture before it dies INDIVIDUAL need the need 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 to use existing cultural links, enable empathy to compare cultural perceptions social need to reconsider one’s own culture before it dies INDIVIDUAL need globalisation need the need 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 to use existing cultural links, enable empathy to compare cultural perceptions social need to reconsider one’s own culture before it dies INDIVIDUAL need globalisation need to understand a deeper level of cultural identity the need 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 to use existing cultural links, enable empathy to compare cultural perceptions social need to reconsider one’s own culture before it dies INDIVIDUAL need globalisation need to understand a deeper level of cultural identity collective need the need 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 A game / interactive device that helps people discover cultural worldviews through language, creating thus was born the goal: 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Transculturality is defined as “seeing oneself in the other”1 1. reference 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Transculturality is defined as “seeing oneself in the other” Cuccioletta, Donald. “Multiculturalism or Transculturalism: Towards a Cosmopolitan Citizenship.” London Journal of Canadian Studies 17 (2001-2002): 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 A game / interactive device that helps people discover cultural worldviews through language, creating empathy. thus was born the goal: 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 overview how do we feel about languages we speak? how do I make games for adults? How do they scientifically affect our identities? 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 how do we feel about languages we speak? How do they scientifically affect our identities? how do I make games for adults? overview 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 how do we feel about languages we speak? How do they scientifically affect our identities? how do I make games for adults? overview 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 how do we feel about languages we speak? 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 I decided to ask some of these questions to 17-year-old trilingual students in Mahatma Gandhi International School, Ahmedabad, India... how do we feel about languages we are taught? Ahmedabad 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 THE WORLD WORD BANK CHALLENGE 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Polygots: What do you find impossible to translate? navra saala swag photocopy sajiao dabba tapori adaayen 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 I. What do you love about your mother tongue? “Its ability to absorb chunks from any other language and still amazingly remain true to itself.” - Gaurav, Hindi-speaker “‘Tulu’ means ‘that which is connected with water’, and is one of the oldest Dravidian languages.” - Karthik “Its people have the ability to laugh at themselves” - John-Paul, English-speaker “it cannot be mistaken for any other language,” - Anuradha, Bengali-speaker “Tanjore Marathi is the oldest form of marathi spoken by very few people,” - Sowbhagya 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 looking for the globalising citizen via 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 What’s your favourite word, phrase or idiom? “cacamille” - Mejane “Entschuldigung” - Claire “Oh my god” - Claire “Celui qui couche avec le cul qui gratte, se leve avec les doits qui puent” - Mejane “mamahuhu” - Matthieu “Que belle” - Claire “tere mooh mein keeday, tere mooh mein dhool” - Vishad “Hypotenuse” - John-Paul “jab jaago tab savera” - Kalpana 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 What makes you a global citizen? “Identifying with a lot of communities” - Sowbhagya “My disbelief in boundaries” - Gaurav “ An awareness of and concern for all nations on earth, not just the one you live in” - Barbara “ Getting affected by problems that arise in any part of the world, eg. global economy, melting of polar ice caps... Everyone’s lives are interlinked whether they know it or not, and that makes them global citizens” - Anuradha 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Expert Interview: Kurnal Rawat, leader of typocity project, mumbai Kurnal Rawat, founder Grandmother India 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Expert Interview: Kurnal Rawat, leader of typocity project, mumbai Kurnal Rawat, founder Grandmother India Games for adults should: be emotional involve people quickly “Use personal stances” “Think of ways to reinforce good participation” “Not be unnecessarily niche” “The key is to make people LOVE a subject” “Appeal to a larger audience and make them feel like a part of something” “where” is very important be personal be evocative be intellectually intriguing 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Expert Interview: Kurnal Rawat, leader of typocity project, mumbai Create something for curious people only, since they make the best contributors. Games should be a collaborative interactive acitivity. Marry the virtual and the physical! The question really is, ‘How to make people interact with each other in multiple ways?’ Kurnal Rawat, founder Grandmother India 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 travellers, who experience globalisation at the speediest urban dwellers, the important link between the two who needs empathy with whom? rurals, who globalise at an altogether different pace 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 travellers, who experience globalisation at the speediest urban dwellers, the important link between the two rurals, who globalise at an altogether different pace “I went to a village where they got wifi before they get hot running water” UNPUBLISHED INTERVIEW: Hartman, Robert. Interview by Mili Sethia. Personal Interview. Shanghai, October 7, 2013. who needs empathy with whom? 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 How do they scientifically affect our identities? 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 1. People can have a perfect sense of cardinal direction simply if their language confines them to use them instead of egocentric coordinates. This is seen in the Australian Pormpuraawans, for example. shape thought? How does language... k 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 2. People whose mother tongues use gender tend to perceive certain nouns to be associated with adjectives that correspond to that gender. E.g. Spanish speakers, for whom bridge masculine, are more likely to pick words like “strong,” “powerful,” or “towering,” while German speakers tend to call bridges “elegant,” “slender,” or even “fragile.” shape thought? How does language... k 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 shape thought? How does language... k to the Russian-speaking mind: two DIFFERENT colours 3. If the brain has two different words for things, it is more likely to perceive differences between them. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 3. If the brain has two different words for things, it is more likely to perceive differences between them. to the English-speaking mind: just two shades of one colour to the Russian-speaking mind: two DIFFERENT colours 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 add to a travelling/ lifestyle experience and feel adventurous ? How does language... “Now that I like to use new Chinese words for everything, to dance the malagashe dance, to drink Chinese tea with veveche, I find myself multicultured. We use some words with just some people sometimes. Like with my friend, we have created a new language based on experience.” - Mejane 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Cognitive Science: Are words heuristics? Heuristics are: “...experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery that give a solution which is not guaranteed to be optimal. ” a popular type of Mandarin-learning poster for kids 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 On linguistics: Pascal Chazot, Ph.D in Linguistics & Pedagogy The difference between words and cognitive heuristics is that words are more concrete. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Yet another paradigm Metadesign > symmetry of ignorance > boundary objects 1. My game design may be likened to a form of metadesign, since I don’t know enough to design for the real stakeholders (since I don’t speak ALL languages). 2. A symmetry of ignorance is the lack of knowledge when groups of people are each from different specialities and can’t know everything about anything. 3. ‘The “symmetry of ignorance” requires creating spaces and places that serve as boundary objects where different cultures can meet. Boundary objects serve as externalizations that capture dis- tinct domains of human knowledge and they have the po- tential to lead to an increase in socially shared cognition and practice [Resnick et al., 1991].’4 4. Fischer, Gerald. “Symmetry of Ignorance, Social Creativity and Meta-Design.” Center for LifeLong Learning & Design (L3D) Department of Computer Science and Institute of Cognitive Science University of Colorado, Boulder 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Pascal Chazot, founder Mahatma Gandhi International School, Ph.D in linguistics & in Pedagogy Look at language as a model of the world you’re dealing with Culture affects reality in much the same way as dreams affect reality. Language doesn’t just shape the world around us. Language is the CREATOR of reality. (Not the shaper) 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 1. Tones (such as in Chinese languages and many African languages) 2. Idiographs (such as in Chinese lan- guages, Japanese) 3. Gender (upto 16 genders in Fula lan- guage spoken in a number of countries in West Africa ) 4. Evidentiality (such as in Turkish) 5. (such as in a language used by the Australian aborigi- nals known as Pormpuraawans) Yet another paradigm does language give us superpowers? 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 According to Lera Boroditsky: Yes they do! 1. Tones (such as in Chinese languages and many African languages) 2. Idiographs (such as in Chinese lan- guages, Japanese) 3. Gender (upto 16 genders in Fula lan- guage spoken in a number of countries in West Africa ) 4. Evidentiality (such as in Turkish) 5. (such as in a language used by the Australian aborigi- nals known as Pormpuraawans) Yet another paradigm does language give us superpowers? 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 I. talking to a game design expert II. Iterations of games how do I make games for adults? overview 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Beware that gaming involves directly affecting the other players’ next move. Uday Athavankar, Professor of Game Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 What motivates adults to play games? competition surprises social relevance uncertainty a constantly changing fate skill-based challenges intellectual challenges Uday Athavankar, Professor of Game Design, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 visiting goethe institut, shanghai... 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 ... & analysing board games 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 co-operative board games Players work together in order to achieve a goal, either winning or losing as a group. Cooperative games stress cooperation over competition. Participants typically play against the game, and sometimes against one or two other players as well, who take the role of traitors. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 summary of research literature on language 1 high school class of polyglots 1 quiz about being a global citizen 1 game designer 3 detailed interviews on multilingualism 1 communications designer 1 cognitive psychology expert Examination of gameplay in different board games 1 pedagogue and linguist 1 language L2 teacher in Shanghai 1 online language survey 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 key take-aways 1. Adults want to feel multicultured. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 key take-aways 1. Adults want to feel multicultured. The Answer: A role-playing game for adults where they enact a person from another culture 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 key take-aways 1. languages give us superpowers. 2. Meaning changes with language. 3. Adults want to feel multicultured. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 key take-aways 1. languages give us superpowers. 2. Meaning changes with language. 3. Adults want to feel multicultured. The Answer: A tactical way to experience words. “WORLD WORD CURRENCY” 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 key take-aways 3. languages give us superpowers. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 key take-aways 3. languages give us superpowers. The Answer: Language-based advantage and disadvantages in a game environment. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Axis #1 Axis #2 Axis #3 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 + long hours of compiling unique words in chinese with annie: My expert hack 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 introducing... 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 word world currency 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 hindi font 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 word world currency cha racer, integrity, culturedne ss; literally: content, to add no i m portant contributions duri ng disaster l iterally: to buy soy sauce a sad or a long face note that th e character looks like a sad long face Nèi hán fa ce; honour, which can be lo st literally: face Miànzi way; path; study; learning; know ledge literally: road go do it! literally: refuel the mam al m igrationin China dur to sp ring festivsl li terally: spring “transport” a pretty girl, waitress, lady, or mada m oiselle l iterally: beautiful woman fate; destiny; a “meant to be” fee ling originates in Buddhism, and isn’t exclus ive to lvoe Dào ಺ᔻ ಺ᔻ



෼



෼ ඒౕ ଧ



༉ ඒౕ ଧ



༉ ໘ࢠ ໘ࢠ Ճ༉ Ճ༉ This word, or 520, is code for I love you, a ka “w ài n ” ޒೋྵ ޒೋྵ ಓ ಓ yuán fèn 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 word world currency fo-cyul PRONO U NCIATION: VOUS, W OO FRAN CAIS FRANCAIS FRA N CAIS mec mec guy or dude meuf wom an or chick (reverse of fem m e) meuf faux-cul som eo ne who is fake, literally “fak e ass” faux-cul to rou ghly know something or so m eone connaître connaître used to describe something that is a nnoying fait chier fait chier avoir env ie de : desire to have or do s om ething envie envie a lasting im p ression of something that ju st happened sillage sillage alors a nd so; therefore; moving on alors mistake gaffe gaffe en plein air out in the open en plein air fo-cyul see-ya-je on-vie con-ay-tre aa-lor-ze gaa-ffe maik m-ufff on plie-en air faye she-ye 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 word world currency hot girl who is dancing sky val ues induced by parents’ upbring ing m e aning: very hot; for appetising fo od context: food, tea. (offensively) a girl’s body a s treetside loafer and petty crim in al, spices added to food or tea rain a thought or a dream, a musing a useless person with nothing to do, or no purpose. beauty that is n’t entirely physical nature, ofte n m omentary chhammak chhallo aasmaan sanskaar gar-ma gar-um mawali masala baarish kha-yaal lukha uh-da can be use d adoringly as well as matter of factly can be used to describe surprising elements of som ething teri ada descri bes ualities that make one wea k in the knees 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 hou! mou moo hou! men ਓ ee oo o m e Mù ໦ ໦ e e on o eo e rén ਓ mou h e e e m e on eo e u u u jan h e oun m e o e e u o m n e e moo eo e e e e honou h h n e o e e o mou mou n na a na a moo ދ ދ hou! hou! men en en men ja n word world currency 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 hou! mou moo hou! men ਓ ee oo o m e Mù ໦ ໦ e e on o eo e rén ਓ mou h e e e m e on eo e u u u jan h e oun m e o e e u o m n e e moo eo e e e e honou h h n e o e e o mou mou n na a na a moo ދ ދ hou! hou! men en en men ja n དྷ ଠ taille gee ݾ face; honour, which can be lost དྷ laie lie to arrive Lái དྷ excessively, overly Tài ଠ ଠ the self ݾ past of “bring” only) lai maid, a unt, elderly woman or teacher tai a suffix ad ded to a name to signi fy respect can als o m ean “yes” (as in “ sir”) gee literally: face appli es to plural “things” o nly laie height tie literally: face tie face; honour, which can be lost literally: face gee taille face; honour, which can be lost literally: face taille face; honour, which can be lost literally: face lie word world currency 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 jin I aie! ඦ byeee! baie ਫ਼ genie génie genie literally: face génie hundred ඦ lo ve, attachment, passio n Ài f ine, excellent, semina l ਫ਼ eld erly cleaning lady; sis ter can also be combined with “ji” t a s “bai ji” bai p ast feminine of “com e ” aii genie g oodbye with emphasi s literally: face byeee! the self in first person I face; honour, which can be lost literally: face genie u sed to refer to onesel f literally: face aie! yawn literally: face baie word world currency 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 mother tongue advantages and disadvantages And the one culture that stood out from the Westernising ones thanks to its own commitment to itself. You have a lot to draw from your roots. No matter which dialect of it you speak, you are interminable linked to a billion other people. Use it wisely! A much more vivid experience of hearing, with dramatically improved sense of pitch recognition (especially in musicians). universally beloved food tone-based language 300 dialects; only 1 script 3000 years of intact history most common mother tongue in the world Over 950 million people are estimated to speak Mandarin-Chinese as their native lanugage Gives you a much healthier right-brain; a much better memory, and of course it has got to be amazing being synesthetic in your language. pictogram-based script The 60,000 characters can take a lifetime’s dedication to learn. But then again the cultural revolution from 1949-76 might have taken that away. 300 dialects; only 1 script tone-based language universally beloved One in every four meals in the world is Chinese. Hurrah for soft power. pictogram-based script 3000 years of intact history most common mother tongue in the world A very difficult language to learn for those who don’t have tone-based languages. Contains a lot of taste enhancers, and is disputed for food safety. The unification of the country and the revamping of the culture is letting a lot of these beautiful dialects die, ruthlessly. Not as well-understood as other world languages such as Spanish or English which have their roots in more widespread language families. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 how does the game work??!?! 1 DIE 160 TOTAL COINS = 40 gold, 80 sil- ver, 40 copper 4 gold coins = 1 peace sign TOTAL VALUE: 25 peace signs 5 advantage and 5 disadvantage cards in every language 40 cards in total 1 BOARD Aim: to share and exchange currency and advantages until all players have an equal amount of it! 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Axis #1 Axis #2 Axis #3 does it fully teach a language? no, of course not. 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Axis #1 Axis #2 Axis #3 "One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox. "Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me . . ." "What must I do, to tame you?" asked the little prince. "You must be very patient," replied the fox. "First you will sit down at a little distance from me--like that--in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day . . ." 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Mandarin Chinese Taiwan Singapore China English Australia Barbados Canada India Ireland Jamaica Nigeria Nepal New Zealand Mauritius Philipines Singapore UK USA South Africa French French Polynesia Francophone Arica Switzerland French Carribian Canada Belgium France Hindi India Fiji Pakistan Pakistan Nepal 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Mandarin Chinese Taiwan Singapore China English Australia Barbados Canada India Ireland Jamaica Nigeria Nepal New Zealand Mauritius Philipines Singapore UK USA South Africa French French Polynesia Francophone Arica Switzerland French Carribian Canada Belgium France Hindi India Fiji Pakistan Pakistan Nepal 

Mili Sethia (c) all copurights reserved - FEBRUARY 2014 Axis #1 Axis #2 Axis #3 merci! phir milenge! xiexie!