We took part in a seminar on multilingualism in Berlin
9 organizations, 5 days and 1 city – this is the shortest possible description of the “Multilingualism Seminar” organized by the Understanding Foundation, in which we participated. The training took place on January 15-19, 2020. in Berlin, and the Multicultural Krakow Association was represented by its president – Joanna Antonik.
The main topic of the trip was multilingualism, which is why the lectures and discussions concerned such topics as: dealing with myths about multilingualism, the role of partners in passing on the native language to children, or strategies for including people who do not understand the minority language in communication.
Classes for our group were conducted by Agata Koch – German philologist, language teacher, translator and initiator and coordinator of the Polish Language Café in Berlin, Dr. Anna Mróz – linguist with specializations: bil- and multilingualism and Polish as a foreign language and Jonas Grygier – intercultural communication trainer, pedagogical assistant at the Gustav Stresemann Institute in Bad Bevensen.
Most of the classes took place in the hospitable premises of SprachCafé Polnisch e.V. – the Polish Language Café, but we also visited the Stadtteilzentrum Pankow – the district cultural and community centre.
In addition to our association, the training was attended by representatives of such organizations as: One World – One Heart Foundation, Eurointegration Foundation, Zustricz Foundation, Foundation for Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation “U-Work”, Foundation for the Support of Polish Culture and Language. Mikołaj Rej, the Jewish Culture Festival Association in Krakow and the Art of Living Foundation.
