STAFFORD HOUSE ENGLISH BLOG

5 Ways to Stay Together While Being Apart

Posted by Brandon Locke on 01-Apr-2020 14:44:17

When face-to-face communication becomes a challenge, it becomes more important than ever to innovate ways to stay in touch. Luckily, this is the age of social media and virtual reality. Staying connected is more a matter of how strong your Wi-Fi signal is than of resources. And with a bit of imagination and effort, your social networks can indeed thrive even over vast distances.

 
Share a hobby

For all of you undercover yogis and secret public speaking gurus out there, now is your time to sparkle. Whether you are leading your classmates in a heart-pumping exercise, delivering a mini-seminar on leadership-development, or teaching the basics in coding, sharing your hobby is a fantastic way to build relationships.

Work on your professional image

In addition to showing off what you love to do is the opportunity to demonstrate your experience to your peers. Not only are you further enhancing the English learned in class, but you are also creating an outlet to showcase your talents on a professional level. Turn this into an opportunity to grow your business connections. With expanded access through teleconferencing technologies like Zoom to peers (and perhaps even customers) from literally all around the world, you can more easily connect with others, share expertise, and have great fun all the while.

Tap into your inner gamer

Few activities are as timeless as board games. The click-clack of your token as it moves across the board, snatching up resources while your friends get increasingly annoyed can lead into hours and hours of competitive fun. While gaming has become much more sophisticated these days, you can still enjoy the board games of old, virtually. From Monopoly to Words With Friends, the games we all love to play in our living rooms after supper are, too, online. Connect through your PC or mobile device and go head-to-head with players a continent away while still preserving that board game night feel.

Maintain a daily messaging group

We all need to unwind. And who better to communicate what’s on your mind than those sharing the experience like your classmates? Get creative! Text messages can be so passé. Share one of the countless memes you have come across, a memory from an outing using Adobe Spark, or kick off karaoke in a round. Applications like WhatsApp and Line provide a digital space for friends to gather, talk, and feel close and connected despite geography.

Break bread together

Forget the lunch eaten in a rush during breaks. Now we can enjoy hearty meals, long simmering on the stove - minus the need to cram it into a Tupperware dish after! Cooking (and eating) is a wonderful way to channel creativity. Cooking as a group also functions as a way to pass the time while learning new recipes from your Taiwanese, Arabic, or Brazilian classmates. There is no pressure to impress; instead, it is the act of keeping in touch through a meal that is the focus. Sharing food is the sharing of experiences, helping to create community and build bonds. And, if you or your friends are not so skilled in the kitchen, there is always takeaway!

 

Topics: Student Experience, Study Abroad, Travel, Study English, "mental health", online english, online classes