Estonian Language Centre seeks people passionate about making the world a better place
10 sports and cultural projects promoting integration to receive 80,000 euros in support
More than 200 Russian-speaking youngsters to spend summer with families in Võru County
More than 100 foreign Estonian youngsters to descend on Viljandi County this summer
Make a note in your calendar: Citizen’s Day Quiz is from 19 to 29 November
Second half of May to exhibit Slavic culture
Enjoy Ukrainian culture at the beginning of June
New Head of Research to start work in May
Anna Farafonova to move to a new job
Support services for educational institutions
Estonian Language Centre seeks people passionate about making the world a better place
The search for people to staff the Estonian Language Centres in Tallinn and Narva is under way. Estonian language teachers and those running language-learning projects are welcome to apply for the positions, which are due to commence in January 2019.
Five specialists whose strengths lie in teaching Estonian at the A1 and A2 levels, making learning an engaging experience and organising a variety of events are to be recruited for each centre. People will also be taken on to lead and carry out language-learning activities. Their tasks will be to organise joint activities to support integration, networking and to arrange language cafés in companies and community centres.
Irene Käosaar, the director of the Integration Foundation, says the Estonian Language Centres could develop into regional hubs where the teaching and learning of Estonian takes place in a variety of ways, including in a relaxed club format. “We’re looking for people who are really motivated to contribute to the field,” she explained. “We want the centres to become places with a positive atmosphere that people like coming to and where they get the advice and support they need about studying Estonian and feeling more at home in Estonian society.”
Those selected will start work in early 2019. This will be preceded by thorough training at the University of Tartu.
Anyone interested in applying is welcome to attend an information sessions in Tallinn | 9 May | 13:00-15:00 | Estonian Entrereneurship University of Applied Sciences (Suur-Sõjamäe 10a, 2nd floor, room No 227)
Applications are open until 18 May 2018.
Take a look at the job advertisements here:
- https://www.integratsioon.ee/uudised?news_id=1091
- https://www.integratsioon.ee/uudised?news_id=1090
10 sports and cultural projects promoting integration to receive 80,000 euros in support
From the almost 100 applications submitted to its Sports & Cultural Project competition, the Integration Foundation has selected 10 projects for funding, with a total of 80,000 euros to be distributed among the recipients. The projects in question will create fertile ground for people in Estonia who speak different languages to interact with one another.
Jana Tondi, the Head of Language and Cultural Immersion with the Integration Foundation, says that taking part in engaging activities with other like-minded individuals is one of the best ways of integrating people from different backgrounds. “Playing sport and attending cultural events together leads to people from different linguistic backgrounds getting to know one another much more naturally than they otherwise might,” she explained.
Below is an overview of the projects to be funded. The maximum amount of support that can be granted to a single project is 10,000 euros.
- The Estonian Club for the Organisation of Sporting Events’ Narva Fun Run will be held for the eighth time in 2018. It has become the biggest popular sporting event in Ida-Viru County.
- The Estonian Football Association’s ‘We speak football!’ project brings 400 girls to football tournaments in Ida-Viru County to take part in fun games and practice under female Estonian trainers and with female players.
- The NPO Lasnaidee project ‘A community garden for Lasnamäe’ is designed to promote neighbourly relations through community-based urban gardening. The initiative, which will be based in the courtyard at Võru 11, will create the first focal point of its kind in the city district for people to come together and interact with one another. It will play host to seminars, workshops and working bees.
- The NPO ContempArt will be showcasing contemporary classical music at the Narva Opera Days festival, with audiences enjoying world premieres and the work of talented young artists. One of the main events will be the debut of a piece dedicated to Narva by Estonian composer Madis Järvi.
- OÜ Mägede Hääl will be organising a two-day family event in Kohtla-Järve whose concert programme will see local artists like Estrada Orchestra, Smoke'N'Smile and Kaschalot taking to the stage alongside nationally famous artists like Winny Puhh, Orelipoiss and Holy Motors so as to promote Russian-language bands from Ida-Viru County to a wider audience.
- Tallinn Central Library will be organising a series of meet-and-greets with Estonian authors entitled "#minaloenagasina?!”/„#ячитаюаты?!“ /#ireaddoyou?!/ for students who speak Russian as their first language.
- The Kistler-Ritso Eesti Foundation’s ‘10 decades in Estonian history’ project will foster youngsters’ cooperation skills, giving them an insight into academic writing and the curating of exhibitions.
- The Motus Sports Club’s ‘Estonia 100 Narva Series 2018’ organises running events.
- The Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum Foundation’s ‘Sport unites!’ integration programme will showcase sports history and culture for young people from Ida-Viru County. Educational programmes and workshops will be updated so that they can be run in two languages, thus also speaking to youngsters with mother tongues other than Estonian.
- The Estonian Orienteering Federation’s ‘Inclusion of the Russian-speaking population of Ida-Viru County in the orienteering community’ project aims to bring residents together as both participants in and organisers of events.
The project activities support the implementation of the objectives of measure 1.2 ‘Support for everyday contact, communication and inclusion in society’ of sub-objective 1 ‘Attitudes and values supporting integration have emerged in Estonian society’ of the ‘Integrating Estonia 2020’ development plan (see http://www.kul.ee/sites/kulminn/files/le2020_arengukava_uuendatud_2016…).
For further information please contact: Jana Tondi, Head of Language and Cultural Immersion, e-mail: jana.tondi@integratsioon.ee, telephone: +372 659 9069
More than 200 Russian-speaking youngsters to spend summer with families in Võru County
More than 200 youngsters from Ida-Viru County and Tallinn will be adding to their knowledge of Estonian language and culture this summer by temporarily moving in with Estonian-speaking families in Võru County. The family studies are being organised by the Integration Foundation.
Such studies are an effective way of familiarising young people aged 7-18 who are living in Estonia but whose mother tongue is a language other than Estonian with Estonian cultural space and of offering them the opportunity to form contacts with people of the same age who speak Estonian as their mother tongue.
Three tenderers were successful in the competition: the NPOs ‘Volonta’, ‘Veeda vaheaeg Võrumaal’ and ‘Lapsele oma kodu’.
Jana Tondi, the Head of Language and Cultural Immersion with the Integration Foundation, says that the 10-day family stays give the youngsters a unique opportunity not only to practise their Estonian, but also to experience a different way of life.
“We’ve put together a fun programme for the kids, so they’ll have plenty to talk about,” she said. “They’ll be taking a look at the local sights, going hiking, having picnics, spending evenings round the campfire, taking care of animals and taking part in sports competitions. The choice of activities takes the summer weather into account, but also the kids’ own wishes.”
The schedule and contact details for the family studies can be found online at https://www.integratsioon.ee/2018-eesti-keele-ja-kultuuri-ope-peredes-projektilaagrites-pusilaagrites.
The Integration Foundation has been supporting Estonian language and culture studies at camps and in families since 1998. Almost 20,000 youngsters from all over the country have taken part in the projects.
85,240 euros has been allocated in support of family studies, financed by the Ministry of Culture.
Family studies projects are supported by measure 2.1 ‘Creating opportunities to increase the social activity and support the integration of less-integrated permanent residents of the country with a foreign background’ of sub-objective 2 ‘The level of involvement in society of less-integrated permanent residents of the country with a foreign background has increased through the attainment of Estonian citizenship and new social knowledge’ of the ‘Integrating Estonia 2020’ development plan.
For further information please contact: Jana Tondi, Head of Language and Cultural Immersion, telephone: +372 659 9069, e-mail: jana.tondi@integratsioon.ee
More than 100 foreign Estonian youngsters to descend on Viljandi County this summer
The Integration Foundation runs Estonian language and culture camps for young foreign Estonians from June to August each year. This year, with the help of partner NPO HeadEst, the foundation will be hosting 110 youngsters at five camps.
The youngsters will be descending on Viljandi County from 30 countries: Portugal, the United States, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Turkey, Serbia, Mexico, Italy, Malta, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Romania, France, the United Kingdom, Austria, Latvia, the Bahamas, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Australia, Canada, Honduras and Africa.
For young people aged 13-18 who have an Estonian background but live in other countries, the camps are an opportunity to study the language, get to know Estonian kids their own age and learn more about Estonia’s cultural environment. They go sightseeing and on excursions and play sport together. Taking part in the camps alongside their foreign Estonian peers, helping them with their language practice and outlining the things kids get up to in the country, will be 40 local Estonian-speaking youngsters.
Jana Tondi, the Head of Language and Cultural Immersion with the Integration Foundation, says that by attending the camps young Estonians who live abroad feel a connection with their homeland and the Estonian language. “What they experience at the camps motivates them to learn more about the country and gets them thinking about whether and how their future lives might be tied to Estonia,” she explained.
- The 1st camp will be held from 25 June-5 July for youngsters whose Estonian skills are elementary. It will take place at Venevere Holiday Centre in Viljandi County (www.venevere.ee).
- The 2nd camp will be held from 9-19 July for youngsters who speak Estonian at an upper-intermediate level. It will also take place at Venevere Holiday Centre in Viljandi County (www.venevere.ee).
- The 3rd camp will be held from 23 July-2 August for youngsters whose Estonian skills are elementary. It will also take place at Venevere Holiday Centre in Viljandi County (www.venevere.ee).
- The 4th camp will be held from 24 July-3 August for youngsters who speak Estonian at an upper-intermediate level. It will take place at Sammuli Holiday Village in Viljandi County (www.sammuli.ee).
- The 5th camp will be held from 6-16 August for youngsters who are fluent in Estonian. It will take place at Venevere Holiday Centre in Viljandi County (www.venevere.ee).
More than 200 youngsters living abroad applied via the Integration Foundation website for the summer camps being held in 2018.
The Integration Foundation has been running such camps since 2000.
Support for the organisation of the camps is provided by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Research via the ‘Countrymen programme 2014-2020’ and as part of the ‘Estonia 100’ project of the Government Office.
For further information please contact: Jana Tondi, Head of Language and Cultural Immersion, e-mail: jana.tondi@intergratsioon.ee, telephone: +372 659 9069
Make a note in your calendar: Citizen’s Day Quiz is from 19 to 29 November
This year, the quiz will be in a smaller volume. There will be one questionnaire, i.e. 50 questions in Estonian. Everyone who has completed the quiz will receive a personal link with the results of the quiz to their e-mail address immediately after the end of the quiz on 30 November.
The quiz held in the same week as Citizen’s Day is the sixteenth in succession. In earlier years the Foundation has drawn up several different questionnaires for the quiz that have been aimed at students of different age groups. Over the years, the quiz was successfully completed by approximately 75,000 students. From 2015 to 2017, the Foundation also offered the possibility to complete the quiz to adults and, as a result, 10,000 persons tested their knowledge in the quiz.
The Citizen’s Day Quiz is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture.
Second half of May to exhibit Slavic culture
The traditional Slavic Cultural and Literary Language Days to be held in the second half of May are a huge and important party for all the Slavic people living in Estonia.
Cultural Association Kirill ja Meffodi invites all those interested in culture to attend the events of the cultural days because the Slavs living in Estonia have compiled a really exciting cultural programme. Come and listen to the sound of the Slavic spiritual, classical and folk music and enjoy the original Slavic dances and folklore.
Slavic Cultural and Literary Language Days 2018
PROGRAMME
18 May at 13:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Opening of X Slavic Cultural and Literary Language Days.
“Images and Symbols of Eternity in Russian Literature – Conversation about Russian Literary Language”
Sergei Fjodorov, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Head of the Department of Philology,St. Petersburg Postgraduate Pedagogical Education Academy.
18 May at 16:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Opening of the exhibition of the Association of Russian Artists in Estonia
18 May at 18:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Concert “There is Spring in Our Souls” by the female choir Slavyanka
19 May at 16:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Concert by the chamber choir Eleegia and the mixed choir Russ
21 May at 17:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Lecture “History of Ancient Russian Culture and Literature” by Tatjana Tšervova, MA in cultural history
22 May at 12:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Lecture “Sts. Cyril and Methodius” by Sergei Minin, a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association
23 May at 18:30 in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Concert of Orthodox spiritual songs, devoted to the memory of Cornelius, Metropolitan of Tallinn and all Estonia. The performers are church and secular choirs from Tallinn.
23 May at 17:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Concert of classical music “Voices of Slavs”, the performers are soloists from the Russian Philharmonic Society
24 May at 11:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Lecture “Plots of Russian Painting from XVIII to XIX Centuries Based on Literary Work” by Valeri Laur, a member of the Estonian Artists’ Association
24 May at 18:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Folklore concert “Bridges of Song”, the performers are folklore groups from Tallinn and Haapsalu
25 May at 18:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Russian Culture Day “Russian Miracle”, devoted to the 130th anniversary of the concert balalaika
- Film “Secret of Three Strings” (supported by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Estonia)
- Performance by the folk art ensemble Rondo (Brest), an honoured amateur group from Belarus
26 May at 18:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Belarusian Culture Day, the performers are folklore, theatre and instrumental music groups from Belarus (Minsk, Brest) and Tallinn
27 May at 13:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Piano concert by students of Children’s Music School No. 45 of Pushkin District of St. Petersburg
27 May at 16:00 at the Russian Cultural Centre
Ukrainian Culture Day, the performers are creative groups and soloists from the Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia.
Admission is free of charge.
For further information please contact: Tatjana Semenjuk, Member of Management Board of Cultural Association Kirill ja Meffodi, main organiser of the Slavic Cultural and Literary Language Days, e-mail: semjana7@gmail.com
Enjoy Ukrainian culture at the beginning of June
On 3 June 2018, the Association of Ukrainian Organisations invites everybody to the Lindakivi Cultural Centre to attend the gala concert of the Kvity Ukrainy international children’s and youth festival, the programme of which has been devoted to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia.
The performers in the festival are the choreographic ensemble Kolor, instrumental ensemble Meloodia, children’s vocal studio UN C ANTO and students of Sunday schools from Tallinn, Valga, Narva, Sillamäe and Tapa. The foreign performer is the youth theatre Rezonans from the Ukraine. The director of the festival programme is Niina Koort, Artistic Director of the choreographic ensemble Kolor.
Vladimir Palamar, President of the Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia, invites everybody to visit the gala concert and the handicraft fair and art exhibition of students of Sunday schools.
Doors open at 15:00 and the gala concert starts at 15:30. Admission is free of charge. Welcome!
The event is financed through the project competition of cultural associations of national minorities from the budget of the Ministry of Culture.
For further information please contact: Ljubov Laur, Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia, e-mail: ukrainaoae@gmail.com, tel. 5668 9607
New Head of Research to start work in May
From 7 May the new Head of Research of the Integration Foundation is Olga Loitšenko.
Olga has graduated from master’s studies in the field of written translation in Tallinn University (in 2015). Thereafter, she entered doctoral studies where she continues her studies as a third year doctoral student in the field of linguistics. Olga studies colour vocabulary and colour associations among Estonian-Russian bilingual informants. At the moment, she is engaged in cognitive and psycholinguistics and has also established herself the aim of moving to neurolinguistics.
Olga’s earlier work experience comes mainly from the field of tourism – she worked as a tour guide in Tallinn Traveller Tours for two years. She has come into contact with the field of research through her Doctoral studies by participating in the project ‘COST New Speakers in a Multilingual Europe: Opportunities and Challenges’ along with her supervisor and by initiating the project “Blue and Lilac Colour Categories of Estonian-Russian Bilinguals in Estonian and Russian” that she plans to complete in January 2019. In addition, she has supervised students’ seminar papers and Bachelor’s theses on bilingual language approach, identity and linguistic attitudes. Olga considers her major achievement to be the publication of the article ‘Colour terms in the blue area among Estonian-Russian and Russian-Estonian bilinguals’ in the collection ‘Progress in Colour Studies. Cognition, language and beyond’ in summer this year.
Anna Farafonova to move to a new job
Anna Farafonova, who worked as a counsellor in Narva office of the Integration Foundation until today, will assume from Ljudmilla Peussa the role of the Head of Cooperation from 14 May as the latter goes on a longer holiday.
The task of the Head of this field is planning and implementation of cooperation activities and development of the cooperation network.
Support services for educational institutions
In cooperation with valued partners the Estonian Refugee Council offers support services for education institutions and their employees in questions relating to the studies of children and young people with migration and refugee background and developing a multicultural and tolerant learning environment.
The aim of the service is to raise the professional confidence of educational workers in dealing with questions related to the studies of children and young people with migration and refugee background and developing a multicultural and tolerant learning environment.
All educational institutions in Estonia (schools, kindergartens, youth centres) may order the service. Free support is provided for educational leaders, teachers as well as for the support staff.
It is possible to receive support for a single occasion (for ex. a training day for teachers or a workshop on global education for students) or to agree upon a long-term action plan.
The form of the support services will be decided upon with each educational institution separately dependent on their needs. Advising the institution could be organised in the form of direct meetings (for ex. advisory visits or trainings), as well as an indirect meeting (for ex. e-mail, phone or Skype correspondence).
The services is based on the individual needs of educational institutions. Activities can roughly be divided into two categories:
- Offering advice and training for management, teachers and the support staff of educational institutions
- Organising activities that raise awareness and expand the horizons of the children and young people who study in educational institutions, as well as their parents
The service is provided as a part of the project “Launching mobile advisory groups for education institutions for treating questions related to the studies of children with a migration background”, funded by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research.
Read more about the service: http://www.pagulasabi.ee/en/support-services-educational-institutions
