Communities of Practice

a group of people practicing language together

Intercultural communication skills are social skills. They must be practiced with other people.

Burning Questions? Collegial Convos?
Come by “Office Hours”!

“Office Hours” is a virtual gathering that happens every Sunday in 2021 from January 24th to May 23rd on Discord channel https://discord.gg/yBJfAJgtYr If you don’t use Discord, send us a message at info@pptpdx.com to figure out another way to communicate.

4-6 pm Pacific Time

We all have the same goal: to build bridges between cultures.

What is “Office Hours”?

“Office Hours” is a weekly virtual space where you can connect with other interculturalists and P-P-T staff. If you have questions about our programs, language learning and teaching, language justice, racial justice, immigrant integration, global exchange – or you just want to talk to people who live these values – we invite you to drop by!

How Does “Office Hours” Work?

Just drop by the Discord channel above during the hours mentioned. This is primarily an audio experience. Headphones are helpful, but you won’t need a camera. When you arrive, you’ll probably hear people talking, like a little party. Just speak up or write a message – we’ll see a notification when you enter and welcome you. You can come and go whenever you like, and it’s easy to slip away with a colleague or two to have a more private conversation.

Discord is a popular program used by gamers to talk to each other while they play games together. It’s free and works best if you download onto a computer, but works well on mobile or tablet. If you’re not familiar with it, or you struggle with technology, we can help! Send an email to info(@)pptpdx.com with “Discord” in the title, and we’ll walk you through it.

(•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑ (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑

Why Do We Do This?

Originally, we’d informally meet on Friday nights around town. At that time, we didn’t have an office, so we needed a place to gather to get to know each other and share information. As P-P-T grew, the function of this open table space changed, and became a little more social. We changed the name to P-P-T Connect  On any given Sunday evening, there might be a meeting of the P-P-T Sweet Equity Partners, a short presentation or workshop, or games. The pandemic caused many of our programs to evolve, so we met weekly over zoom to explain the changes. Now, we are returning to a more informational model because of all the new apprentices and the need to address issues in our developing programs.

  • It’s a “Community of Practice” – in-service and pre-service facilitators and coaches can share their insights, challenges and questions.
  • It provides a more relational environment where interested people can find out more about our work
  • Language learners also benefit from having a place to come and practice English. It’s a little less structured than a class, but with lots of helpful and supportive people.
  • P-P-T  Connect is a good time to meet with P-P-T leadership and ask questions. However, P-P-T is more than voice of one or two experts and their particular insights about language teaching and intercultural competencies. It’s the collected voices of teacher-learners engaging in this process.
  • We believe intercultural learning requires us to talk about our feelings & experiences as we engage with navigating cross-cultural contexts. Many English speakers come from racially, ethnically, or linguistically privileged backgrounds and struggle with the immediate realization of these privileges. This is where we break it down.