Your Name and Title: 

13 year old Trilingual Pioneer in Global Education - World as Classroom- LITERALLY


School or Organization Name:

http://www.soultravelers3.com/


Co-Presenter Name(s):

None

Area of the World from Which You Will Present:

Penang, Malaysia

Language in Which You Will Present:

English with small amount Spanish and Mandarin as examples

Target Audience(s):

Teachers, Students, Educators. Any one interested in global education, travel, languages, inspiration, innovation, entrepreneurship, worldschooling

Short Session Description (one line):

Benefits of being Raised and Educated as a trilingual global citizen  in 45 countries on 5 continents via non-stop world travel from 5 to 13 years old

Full Session Description (as long as you would like):  

On our  rapidly shrinking, changing planet, in our multi-ethnic, multicultural, multilingual world of the 21st century, we need to raise global citizens to create more peace, harmony and sustainable living in our very connected universe.

I am an American girl who just turned 13 and have spent the last 8 years exploring the world non-stop ( 45 countries on 5 continents so far) literally using this earth as my classroom and want to share my story with you and what I have found are the benefits.

Although my parents are monolinguals, I am a  fluent-as-a-native trilingual/triliterate in Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and English and soon will add French, which allows me to speak with most of the people on our planet and read great literature in several languages. I know first hand that one can not know a culture without knowing the language and in order to be a  global citizen and build greater trust and understanding between the diverse people of our world, being truly fluent in more than one language is essential.

Language teachers know immersion is the fastest path to language acquisition and the easiest way to gain  immersion is through extended, slow, international travel. I started learning all my languages in  the womb, but world travel and combining  "dipping" into local schools in four countries  to my homeschooling education has aided me tremendously, especially with the reading and writing in foreign languages and deeply understanding the culture.

My family is a firm believer in MIT linguist Pinker's quote, ”One free lunch in the world is to learn another language in early childhood.” and we have managed to get this world-class education and travel abroad  while living on a very low budget of just $23/day per person for our total living expenses. Much cheaper than we ever lived in the USA, so the myth that travel is expensive is a false belief.

My languages have also helped me be an entrepreneur starting at twelve as I teach students on 3 continents ( from 4 to 30  including a geophysicist) Mandarin, Spanish and English in person and online.


Tech today makes many things easier, but there are also many benefits of being unplugged and experiencing the real world first hand and connecting deeply in person in the local language. Just using transportation around the world can be an education in itself from camels on 3 continents to cargo ships or learning the subway system in Beijing, London, Paris, New York etc. I had never even ridden on a bus before we left our California home, now I am comfortable in every mode of transportation and any country.


Wouldn't it be wonderful if every child could travel around the world and learn by doing via travel?

I think many more can and my family's pioneering example shows that it is a doable goal even for ordinary families like us and we have inspired many other families to try it. Digital nomad living is a growing trend thanks to tech where we all can work, school and live anywhere.

"Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion" - Hunt.


Today we need languages, cultural literacy, risk-taking, creativity, critical thinking, problem solving etc and I think extended world  travel for education is perhaps the best 21st century education and  the wave of the future!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32bVaNasZyU