Follow a conference via a live broadcast
Dates confirmed for Estonian language fairs
Language school teachers to continue getting together after completing training course
Actors from Russian Theatre prepare to take on Estonian-language roles
Interested in Estonian language and culture?
Integration Foundation receives recognition
Make a note in your calendar: Citizen’s Day Quiz is from 19 to 29 November
Simultaneous translation into Russian now available for performances at Rakvere Theatre
Take a look at Estonia through the eyes of other nationalities
Follow a conference via a live broadcast
The international integration conference ‘My Home, Our Home: What Unites Us in a Multicultural Society’ being held in Tallinn on 15 & 16 November will feature on its second day a fiery debate on the topic of ‘The Influence of Media Blitzes on Integration and How to Cope with It’. Starting at 14:05, the debate will involve representatives of Estonian political parties.
The debate will be led by journalist Urmas Vaino (photo).
All of the places at the conference have been filled, but you will be able to follow the debate online at www.integrationconference.ee and via the Postimees portal at www.postimees.ee.
The politicians taking part in the debate are:
- Mihhail Kõlvart, Eesti Keskerakond
- Jaak Madison, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond
- Laine Randjärv, Eesti Reformierakond
- Neeme Kuningas, Eesti Vabaerakond
- Jevgeni Ossinovski, Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond
- Viktoria Ladõnskaja-Kubits, Isamaa
- Züleyxa Izmailova, Erakond Eestimaa Rohelised
- Helen Lemming, Elurikkuse Erakond
- Kristina Kallas, Eesti 200
The debate will be held in Estonian.
Further information about the conference programme is available online at www.integrationconference.ee.
Dates confirmed for Estonian language fairs
The dates for the ‘KU-ky’ Estonian language fairs have now been locked in. In Narva the fair will take place in Narva College of the University of Tartu on 9 March 2019. In Tallinn the fair will take place at the Song Festival Grounds on 23 March 2019.
The fairs are designed to introduce Estonian language learning methods and resources to residents, to share advice and recommendations on how to start or continue learning the language and pass tests and exams and to teach people how to use learning materials and resources. The 2019 fair will shine the spotlight on the newly opened Estonian Language Centres and their activities. Organisations whose everyday work involves providing and/or promoting Estonian language studies are welcome to attend the fair.
Anyone interested should contact the foundation’s senior adviser Kätlin Kõverik on +372 659 9032 or at katlin.koverik@integratsioon.ee.
Language school teachers to continue getting together after completing training course
The Integration Foundation, in cooperation with the University of Tartu, is training Estonian language teachers for the Estonian Language Centres and language schools. While the course for the teachers from the Estonian Language Centres will carry on until the end of December, the additional in-service training for existing teachers came to an end on 22 October.
The training for language school teachers focussed on getting adult learners to take an active role in language lessons, support for teachers in their professional development, how teaching materials can be put together and how to deal with representatives of different cultures. The course lasted for 78 hours and involved 26 teachers.
Birute Klaas-Lang, the chief organiser of the training and a professor of Estonian as a foreign language at the University of Tartu, says that they managed to get some of the most competent staff from the university itself as well as from outside of it involved as trainers. ”We decided right at the start that we’d try and find Estonia’s best trainer for each course and subject,” she explained.
Jana Tondi, the Head of Language and Cultural Immersion with the Integration Foundation, says that the participants themselves came up with the idea of continuing to get together and share their experiences after the course. She awaited their suggestions until 4 November, after which more specific plans can be made.
For further information please contact: Jana Tondi, Head of Language and Cultural Immersion | Telephone: +372 659 9069 | E-mail: jana.tondi@integratsioon.ee
Actors from Russian Theatre prepare to take on Estonian-language roles
This October the Estonian Language Centre in Tallinn has started attending the Russian Theatre. 
Namely, two teachers from the centre – Pille Maffucci and Pille Veisserik – have been teaching Estonian at the A2 and B1 levels to the theatre’s resident actors since 10 October. Who knows what amazing roles the troupe will be playing in Estonian in the years to come?
Interested in Estonian language and culture?
Mitteldorf OÜ is inviting anyone interested in practising their Estonian and taking part in cultural events to sign up for Estonian language and culture clubs. Burning issues, cultural events, public figures, history, architecture, literary classics, new works, the magic of cinema and day-to-day concerns and delights are what those attending the club meetings share their thoughts on.
Together they choose museums and exhibitions to visit to later exchange views on. Excursions so far have seen them visit churches and cathedrals in the Old Town, Kadriorg Palace and park, KUMU art museum, the Estonia National Opera, the Estonian Drama Theatre and the Estonian National Museum. They’ve also visited the Estonian parliament, the Bank of Estonia, the ETV studios and offices, a tourism & health fair and lots of other places in Tallinn and Ida-Viru County. You’d be hard-pressed to find a museum our club members haven’t visited.
How useful the club meetings are depends on each person taking part, but getting the ball rolling on the whole thing is the team behind it, who have a wide range of interests and who are dedicated and very friendly.
Participation helps improve your language skills, emboldens you to use the language in conversation, could give you a leg up on the career ladder and may spark an interest in cultural events you’ve never really noticed before. Quite a few members have said their Estonian has improved with every get-together and that they’ve had doors opened to them that were closed before.
One of the most important rules of the clubs is that old refrain ‘all for one and one for all’: you don’t laugh at anyone, you laugh with them, about amusing and absurd situations. The atmosphere at meetings is friendly, constructive and stress-free.
So, are you interested? If you are, take the plunge and join the club!
Participation is free of charge.
In Tallinn the new club will be opening its doors on Thursdays from 17:30-20:45 starting on 6 December 2018 at Pärnu mnt 21 (4th floor). The get-togethers will be led by Irina Rüütel and Piret Norvik.
Register here: https://klubiuudised.ee/registreeru/
Club activities are financed from the European Social Fund project ‘Activities promoting integration in Estonian society’.
The clubs are being organised in Ida-Viru County, Tartu and other places in Estonia by Change Partners OÜ, the NPO Atlasnet, OÜ Mitteldorf, OÜ Keelepisik and ImmiSchool - Uusimmigrantide Koolituskeskus OÜ in cooperation with the Integration Foundation.
To register, simply choose a suitable club. You’ll find the times and venues here:
https://keeleklubid.weebly.com/uued-klubid.html
http://www.keelepisik.ee/meist/keeleoppe-klubiohtud/
http://www.immischool.eu/keele-ja-kultuuriklubi.html
https://klubiuudised.ee/registreeru/
http://www.atlasnet.ee/klubid
To get an idea of how the clubs work, take a look at https://keeleklubiblog.wordpress.com/, http://eestikeeleklubid.blogspot.com.ee/, http://keeleklubid.weebly.com/ and http://www.immischool.eu/keele-ja-kultuuriklubi.html
For further information please contact: Jana Tondi, Head of Language and Cultural Immersion | Telephone: +372 659 9069 | E-mail: jana.tondi@integratsioon.ee
Integration Foundation receives recognition
19 October was a fantastic day for the Integration Foundation, as we received recognition on a number of fronts.
On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, the Union of Estonian School Student Councils thanked those who had long been contributing to education in the country. Decorations were presented to the Integration Foundation and the Open Estonia Foundation, an honourable mention to Eiki Nestor and the ‘Q-Tegija’ title to Anett Veske.
The Ministry of Education and Research also thanked us for our outstanding contribution to Estonian-Russian non-formal education and its development.
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.
he quiz held in the same month 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.
Simultaneous translation into Russian now available for performances at Rakvere Theatre
Rakvere Theatre offers translation into Russian for a number of its productions. Those wishing to make use of the option are provided with a tablet computer on which the simultaneous translation is presented throughout the performance. At the moment three plays are running at the theatre for which Russian translations are available: See kõik on tema, Lendas üle käopesa and Kuni ta suri.
The next performance with simultaneous translation will take on 23 November starting at 19:00 in the main hall of the theatre: the world-famous drama Lendas üle käopesa or “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. The play is set in a mental institution in the United States in the 1960s. Main character Randle McMurphy (played by Üllar Saaremäe) is not merely some hooligan who ends up in the madhouse rather than being sent to prison – he’s a reprobate who always lands on his feet. Unexpectedly he meets his match in the form of ruthless Nurse Ratched (Ülle Lichtfeldt), who rules the secure psychiatric ward with an iron fist.
The following are comments made by audience members:
"What a performance! It’s definitely worth seeing. To me it’s one of the best and one of the most well-balanced productions of the year. The main actors are fantastic in their roles. Everyone is, actually. The story itself is engaging as well. Time just flies as you’re watching it.”
"It’s a story the audience plays a part in – not deciding what happens on stage, but reacting to it, recognising it and to some extent opposing it, all of which influences the way the actors play it. It’s a production that develops and evolves along with the audience."
Anyone wishing to make use of the translation software should contact the theatre’s box office at kassa@rakvereteater.ee or on +372 329 5444. Should anyone wish to attend a performance on another day with a large group, feel free to contact the theatre to find out what options are available.
Take a look at Estonia through the eyes of other nationalities
An exhibition entitled ‘Who Are We? Portraits of People in Estonia’ was opened at the Estonian Open Air Museum on 20 October.
The exhibition showcases eight nationalities living in Estonia through the personal stories of their representatives. In the video interviews conducted with the Udmurt, Russian, foreign Estonian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Pakistani, Jewish and Moldovan subjects the interviewees talk about how and when they came to Estonia and how they have been received in the country. How important do they consider their homeland and relations with people of their own nationality? What do they miss the most? What do they believe in? What problems do they see in Estonia and where do they see themselves in the future? Personal stories help us find similarities and understand differences.
With the help of the relevant communities, background material has been compiled about each of their countries of origin – how many people live there, what the national language is, what the predominant religion is, who the head of state is, what the country’s history has been like and what its everyday cuisine is influenced by. National instruments are used to introduce traditional music, with the spotlight being shone on world-famous artists from the country. A series of pictures is presented reflecting the history, people and natural environment of each country, adding further background to the personal stories.
A roleplay-based educational programme also forms part of the exhibition, giving people the opportunity to step into the shoes of a representative of a particular nationality and insert themselves into a variety of situations to which they are then required to respond in accordance with their cultural background.
This year, with the support of the Integration Foundation, the Estonian Open Air Museum is offering 20 free educational programmes to 20 different groups. In 2019, anyone with a ticket for the museum’s educational programme can take part in programme events.
The exhibition can be viewed by anyone with an ordinary museum ticket. The exhibition and participation in the programmes are open until 10 June 2019.
Support for the organisation of the exhibition was provided by the Ministry of Culture and the Estonian Cultural Capital.
For more detailed information on the exhibition contact: Dagmar Ingi, Head of Exhibitions Department, Estonian Open Air Museum, dagmar@evm.ee
