Time to start Polonaise
Project financed by the National Agency for Academic Exchange within the framework of the Polish Language Promotion Programme.
Project “Time to start Polonaise… – promotion of the Polish language and culture by organizing Polish Weeks (PW) at partner universities in Italy and Argentina, including carrying out educational, informative and promotional activities using sensory interaction with the senses of the audience”
NAWA Financial agreement No. PJP/PJP/2019/1/00031/U
Implementation date: December 2019 – December 2020
Purpose of the Project: promotion of Polish language and culture by increasing the quality of teaching and prestige of Polish as a foreign language, permanently impacting the image of Poland in the world.
In its original version, the Project envisaged activities in cooperation with Partners: Università degli Studi di Bergamo (University of Bergamo, Italy) and Universidad Nacional de Misiones (The University National of Misiones, Argentina). However, due to the turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, step by step the main partners of the Project were eliminated. In due course, we invited other South American institutions to cooperate: PONA, the Polish Teachers’ Organization of Argentina, based in Buenos Aires, and the Universidad de las Americas (UDLA) of Quito, the capital of Ecuador.
Due to the pandemic, as a result of a number of significant changes approved by the funding body, all activities were implemented remotely.
The project activities proved that learning Polish, with a conscious approach and the right motivation, can be accessible and enjoyable, can give satisfaction and be an element of personal development for adults. Educational activities included a series of original Polish language classes and original creative English-language workshops on various aspects of Polish culture.
September 2020 was a month of activities among the Polish community of Argentina. We conducted 2 cycles of 5 two-hour Polish language classes at A0 and A1 levels and a series of 5 cultural workshops, also two hours long. Our September classes and workshops were aimed at an audience acquired by the Polish Teachers’ Organization of Argentina, and the audience was Polish language students and teachers from all over Argentina. For them, our proposals were an interesting and inspiring factor encouraging them to continue learning the language, improving their methodological skills and learning about Polish culture. They are the next generation of post-war immigrants from Poland, often no longer speaking the language of their ancestors. Therefore, promotion of learning Polish to improve communication was important in its conception.
November was the month of the second part of our project activities, this time aimed at students of the Universidad de las Americas (UDLA) in Ecuador. As in September, it included a series of Polish language classes and English-language workshops on Polish culture. We observed that also there our ideas promoting Polish language and Polish culture were received with great interest. It is important to emphasize that a large number of new Polish language textbooks, as well as guides and albums about Poland in English and Spanish, were donated to both Argentina and Ecuador.
Activities implemented within the Project:
- conducting innovative original Polish language classes, based on internationalisms and short communication structures that dispel the myth that our native language is one of the most difficult to learn,
- conducting a series of workshops on various aspects of Polish culture, e.g. daily life, holidays and traditions, art, etc. Workshops consisting of presentations, anecdotes, discussions, and contests with prizes,
- purchasing and shipment of sets of Polish language textbooks, albums and guidebooks about Poland, along with prize sets – to the centers covered by the project activities,
- panel discussion on the Zoom platform summarizing the project activities, with the participation of representatives of the Partner centers and a special guest, Dr. Konrad Kaziemierz Szamryk.
Multi-level benefits of the project:
- dissemination in the universities and organizations of the Partners of the idea of learning Polish, as the native language of a country whose position in Europe and the world is constantly increasing,
- popularizing the teaching of the Polish language, through the use of simple language functions, including internationalisms, in the most useful communication situations,
- acquainting a wide foreign audience with elements of Polish culture
- dispelling negative stereotypes functioning in the world about Poles by promoting openness, hospitality, tolerance and other qualities of the Polish nation,
- inspiring foreign audiences to seek contacts in the following fields: professional, business, scientific,
- strengthening cooperation of the Applicant’s university with partner universities and institutions.
