Speaking european

Since there is no uniting European language in Europe, it is important to talk about the importance of language in Europe. The standard of someones English depends a lot on the opportunities the person had to learn a language or he or she had to put a lot of effort and money into the learning of a foreign language. Our main goal is it to become more aware of the diversity of the european languages and cultures as well as gaining confidence in learning and speaking a foreign language. Further we want to include a deaf person to reduce the inhibition against communicating with deaf people.

Our youth exchange “Speaking European” is planned to take place in Berndorf (a village 25km outside of Salzburg) on 20-28th of July 2019 with the following participating countries: Armenia, Georgia, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. Every of these countries will travel with 5 participants (aged between 18 and 30) and one group leader (total of 36 participants). One of the austrian participants will be deaf and have a sign language support person. All of the participants need to be open and interested to learn a new language or improve their language skills because the main topic of “Speaking European” is language. The motivation to create a Youth Exchange on this topic grew during a Youth Exchange in Armenia in 2018 as we gained appreciation for the language varieties and differences. During the 7 days in July 2019 we want to experiment with language by discussions, group activities, body language, sign language, silent communication, theater play, listening to each other but also communication in general. This should be done by introducing the participants to different language learning techniques such as the Tandem method. Excursions will be made to Hartheim institution and the peace office of Salzburg where we will have workshops about the “power of language” and non-violent communication. Other sessions will be dedicated to elaborate sign language and to get to know Esperanto.

Participants will have an impact on various areas of their lifes. We want to motivate the participants to learn a foreign language even after the Youth Exchange. The participants will have time for a project they will create in groups. They will create a language learning video, dictionary or whatever tool they feel comfortable and motivated to do. The Youth Exchange will stimulate young people’s sense of other language and cultures, continue learning with the Tandem, learning how to take initiative proposing and carrying out the small projects that they can use and show other people in the future. Participant will also widen their horizon and meet like-minded, motivated people and there will be a positive impact on the young persons intercultural communication and interaction quality. The “Austrian Team” will gain a lot of planing and organisation skills through implementation of the Youth Exchange, which will help them to carry out other projects.