Expressing Emotions
Do you know any swear words in another language? In this unit you can gain and share your knowledge on swear words and on other ways of expressing feelings, with words and through music!
Warm up
Let’s start with some brainstorming:
Let’s think about feelings! How many different feeling words can you think of?
List these words on a piece of paper or on a digital document and create symbols for each one!
You have 3 minutes 30 seconds!
Discuss these results with your buddy and think:
- Are feelings universal?
- This means...
- Do you think that all human beings, no matter who they are or where they come from, are able to feel the same emotions?
Learn
After discussing whether all people can feel the same emotions, share your thoughts about this question:
- Do you think that all humans express their feelings in the same way? Why?
Done?
Check if your answer is correct!
Here
Feelings are universal and researchers have discovered that some core feelings (fright, anger, contempt, disgust, happiness, surprise, sadness) are expressed all over the world in the same way!
No wonder we can watch movies and read books created in other places and times and still understand the plot, the feelings of the protagonists and empathize with them also.
Also no wonder that there are, for example, so many love songs in so many different languages!
Dive in 1
Now, look up a song on the Internet in a language you or your buddy understands.
(If you don’t know any love songs you can use a search engine online and type in “love songs in different languages”).
Listen to the song and enjoy the music and its language.
If this is a song you have never heard before, would you understand that it is about love? What helped you understand this?
If the song you found also includes the lyrics, translate it into your language. You may be able to do this online.
What elements of the song were you familiar with? Which were new to you? Think about the melody, instruments, rhythm and lyrics used in the song.
Discuss these findings with your buddy and share your observations and thoughts.
Dive in 2
Even though we said that emotions are universal, the source of the emotion and the way we express it may vary!
Discuss the following questions with your buddy:
- Do you know how to swear in other languages? Share some of these words with your buddy! How do these swearing words sound to you?
- Let’s think about situations in which people express their anger or their enthusiasm. How do these expressions differ from each other? It’s very probable that you yourself have had moments like this. Think of how our body language also varies in situations like this. Done?
- How do you express your enthusiasm and your anger? Think of different situations and share memories with your buddy.
- Think of a situation in which you meet a dear friend after a very long time. How would you express the happiness you feel when you meet this person?
Dive in 3
Let’s play a game!
Go back to your brainstorming about emotions.
- You and your buddy need to choose a word from the brainstorming activity and keep it to yourself!
- Now try to think of how your buddy can guess the word you are thinking by only miming it.
Done?
Did you find this task easy or difficult to carry out? Why?
Now play the game again, but this time use emojis. Instead of miming use an emoji from your mobile phone or just draw one yourself on a piece of paper. You can also create one from your imagination.
Done?
Did you find this task easier or more difficult to carry out? Why?
Create
Create a small dictionary of feelings which people could use to understand cultural codes related to emotions. You can think of feelings you and your peers express to help you.
Write down the feeling and describe how you and your friends would usually deal with it.
You can also describe different ways of dealing with feelings for different kinds of people. However, make sure to write down your own thoughts.
Illustrate your text with pictures or drawings and upload it onto the KIDS4ALLL work.it area!
Reflect
Reflect on emotions which you frequently feel.
- Are they always the same emotions?
Create a postcard with visuals of emotions in which the KIDS4ALLL community needs to guess what feelings you are referring to!
You could also create a matching game using at least two languages.
Download the free KIDS4ALLL app and your wish comes true!
