Americans are often stereotyped as being people who don’t stay abreast of what happens in other countries, let alone their own communities. If that’s sometimes a problem for you, keep reading and find some resources for being a well informed, globally minded citizen.
Study the Happy Planet Index
A website called the Happy Planet Index looks at dozens of factors that gauge happiness according to how well a country’s citizens are able to live within environmental limits, promote well-being and minimize their ecological footprints. This data is not only helpful if you’re trying to compare how others live, but it could also be useful if you’re thinking about taking an extended trip around the world and trying to decide where to go.
Take An International Business Class
If your workplace will soon be expanding to reach an international audience, that’s a perfect opportunity to tell a supervisor you’d love to take a course in international business. Proposing the idea shows initiative and can help increase your value to the company. People in many lines of work, such as translation, may opt to pursue such types of education, believing it’ll help them be more able to seamlessly interact with people from all over the world.
During the course, it’s very likely an instructor will recommend supplemental resources to help you more firmly grasp the extent of issues that directly impact international affairs. That’s even true if you take a course in a non-traditional format, such as through the Internet.
Get Lost in Data From The World Bank
With The World Bank’s website packed with data, you’ll probably find your time there to be very enjoyable. That’s because you can sort with several parameters. Whether you want to look at statistics for an overall country or segment your results into particular topics ranging from urban development to health, labor to energy, it’s possible to do all that and more with relatively little effort.
Navigate to the NationMaster Website
This site lives up to its name, because after browsing it for just a little while, you may feel you’re much more able to master the complexities of very dense topics such as population growth rates. Currently, you can look at information that relates to more than 4,000 categories and get statistics about crime, life expectancy, languages, average salaries and much more. It’s possible to make comparisons between several countries with just a few clicks, too.
Check Out International Music Charts
Initially, you may not see the value in looking at international music charts as a way to stay informed about affairs in other countries. However, music is very powerful, and some artists are able to influence large portions of the world by singing songs that have social consciousness themes. It’s always worthwhile to see whether you can spot music trends across the world and then connect them to social norms.
After using these techniques, you should find it’s much easier to stay in the loop about things going on around the world, even if there’s barely enough time to stay informed about the latest news in your hometown. Happy learning!
