German and Polish summer school – tandem project. July 2023

The 7th tandem project of the ZLB – Language Center Hochschule Hannover and the Department of Foreign Languages of WUST took place from 9 July to 14 July 2023. After the break caused by the pandemic, we returned to the preparation and implementation of the project aimed at our students and German students studying at the Hochschule Hannover. This time a group of WUST students and their teachers travelled to Hannover. The aim of the project was to improve the students’ language skills and help them acquire new intercultural competences, as well as to deepen the cooperation of the lecturers of the two universities. The project involved 16 Polish students from WUST and 16 German students from HH.

Exchange programme

The exchange programme included an intensive German language course at B1+ level for Polish students (run by Suenia Kohn, M.A.), an intensive Polish language course at A1 level for German students (run by Anna Kania, M.A.), an intensive Polish language course for advanced A2/B1 students (run by Tomasz Włodarski, PhD) and a tandem project. As part of the tandem activities, the students visited the university campus, prepared an article for the university platform Wanderlust, and solved tasks during a city game. We had the opportunity to visit the electromobility laboratory on the university's main campus and learn about the latest research conducted in the fields of logistics, transport and vehicle emissivity. HH lecturers told us about the practical research opportunities available to German students at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and how the latest interdisciplinary projects are being implemented. We took part in an online presentation of the VW Nutzfahrzeuge production plant in Hannover. We had the unique opportunity and toured the CotiTech plant - the oldest Continental factory in Europe, where production has been continuous since 1871. The employees at the factory told us how working conditions have changed over the years, what products are currently being produced (drive system components) and what an efficient production process looks like along with maximum waste utilisation. The hosts guaranteed an extensive extra programme for all the participants - we explored the collections of the Landesmuseum, visited the NDR radio station, the largest in northern Germany, and experienced many unforgettable moments at the team-building picnic.

The project coordinator on behalf of the Hochschule Hannover was Anne Zadikian, M.A. and the organisation of the trip on the Polish side was the responsibility of Anna Kania, M.A., supported by Tomasz Włodarski, PhD.

Acknowledgement

We would like to express our special thanks to the Ministry of Science and Culture of the State of Lower Saxony for the funding of the project under the cooperation resources of the partner regions. We would like to thank the management of the ZLB - Language Centre Hochschule Hannover and all the staff who contributed to the yet another edition of our tandem project.

The report was prepared by Anna Kania.

Wrocław, 29 August 2023

German and Polish summer school – tandem project. July 2019

The 6th tandem project of ZLB – Language Center  Hochschule Hannover  and the Foreign Language Department of WUST took place from 14 July to 21 July 2019. This time our German partners, teachers and lecturers,  visited Wrocław. The goal of the project was improving students’ language skills and acquiring new intercultural competences.

There were 16 German and 16 Polish students.

Exchange programme

The programme encompassed an intensive language course at level A1 for German students (run by Aleksandra Skowronek, M.A.), intensive Polish course at an advanced level (run by Anna Kania, M.A.), intensive German course level B1+ for Polish students (run by Alexander Steinhof, M.A.) and the tandem project implementation. Tandem activities in mixed Polish-German groups comprised the creation of a virtual Polish-German company concept (simulation globale) and oral and written tasks related to the details of company activity, creation of a company website and acting out various business roles. We provided a very rich programme of additional events, e.g. we visited the Consulate General of Germany in Wrocław  and had an opportunity to talk with Consul General, and we also aw the sights of Wrocław, e.g. Panorama of Racławice and  Sky Tower.  Our visitors could also enjoy tandem games when visiting the WUST Campus and spent a charming team-building evening.

The German group’s facilitator was Anne Zadikian, M.A. and Anna Kania M.A. was responsible for the organisation of the event in Poland.

Acknowledgement

We would like to extend our special thanks to the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony for subsidising the project as part of partner regions cooperation with the Foreign Language Department of WUST.

We would also like to thank the manager of ZLB – Language Center  Hochschule Hannover – Ms Christinie Ahrberg, M.A. for many years of fruitful cooperation and the centre staff who contributed to the yet another edition of the tandem project.

Anna Kania