The Innovation Nation Mind Mapping Challenge – Part 2

February 15th, 2013 by Darren Rees

So we move on to part two of the challenge. You’ve already created a name, flag and map for your country, and now it is time to ignite your innovation by making your very own language. The memory boosting skills of word and image association are the name of the game in this activity.If you missed part one, click here for Exercise 1: Geography

Exercise 2: Foreign Languages

It’s all Greek to me.

Activity: Many countries have their own individual language. So should yours. Using word associations and Mind Mapping develop a few words in your new tongue.
Materials Needed: Pen and paper, or iMindMap software.

Step 1: Select several common words or phrases
These should be simple things that are used regularly in day to day life. For example: greetings such as ‘Hello,’ and ‘Good morning,’ niceties like ‘please,’ and ‘thank you,’ and maybe even some short phrases such as ‘my name is.’

Step 2a: Think of three things that you associate with each word
It is a good idea to utilise a Mind Map to develop these associations, which can be images that come to mind when you think of the word, actions that one performs when saying the word, or simply other words that rhyme with it. I shall demonstrate…

Take one syllable from each association and use it to form your own word. So in this instance my new word for ‘please’ could be…

WISTRAYEEZE

Another example would be the word ‘Hello.’ The image that comes to my mind is a smile, the action, a handshake and the rhyme sadly is ‘Jello.’ So my new word for ‘hello’ is…

LESHAKJEL

Top Tip:

If you are feeling particularly creative, why not come up with your
own alphabet to accompany your new words?

Step 2b: The Sensible Method
You may have read this activity and, up to this point, thought it a little silly. And of course you are completely right! But where would the world be without those silly ideas? Tin cans with wings that shoot you over vast oceans, tiny pocket jukeboxes, flying to the moon sitting on top of 5½ million lbs of high explosives and of course, cheesecake.

However if you are still left unconvinced by my argument and are looking for a more sensible activity, here it is. Rather than making up your own language you can utilise the association technique to help your children start to learn a foreign language. This still requires you both to be very creative as some words are pretty hard to find associations for. For example

As a final task add a ‘Languages’ branch to your Innovation Nation Mind Map and populate it with some of the new words that you have come up with (or indeed, learnt).

Stay tuned for part 3, it will be with you in just a few short days…

 

Posted in Education, iMindMap

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