Estonian language courses for partially sighted and hard-of-hearing adults begins
Applications for compensation of Estonian language studies’ costs will be received until the end of September
Citizen’s Day e-quiz for young people will be organised again!
An essay competition on participating in society for young people begins in October
A new application round for Sunday schools of national minorities opens
Estonian language courses for partially sighted and hard-of-hearing adults begins
Partially sighted and hard-of-hearing adults are awaited for basic level Estonian language courses in Tallinn and Ida-Viru County. The courses have been specially developed to keep in mind the needs of partially sighted and hard-of-hearing persons.
“In cooperation with Sola Integra OÜ and the Estonian Support Union of Deafblind and with the support provided by the European Social Fund, study materials were prepared for additional study of Estonian for adults with special needs to develop their communication skills in the Estonian language and assist them in their daily life,” explained Eduard Odinets, the Head of the Lifelong Learning Unit of the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA).
According to Odinets, there were no study materials that satisfied the needs of hard-of-hearing and partially sighted persons in Estonia, but the language study methods of partially sighted and hard-of-hearing people significantly differ from regular language teaching methods. “Learning a foreign language without the use of sight and hearing is very difficult. A large part of regular language teaching is primarily based on reading and listening exercises making regular materials unhelpful for partially sighted and hard-of-hearing people, which is why there was a pressing need for special study aids,” said Odinets.
Now study kits for partially sighted and hard-of-hearing persons have been prepared and Estonian language courses organised by OÜ Sola Integra that acknowledge the needs of partially sighted and hard-of-hearing persons will start already in October.
A study kit “Stories of life itself” designed for partially sighted persons comprises audio clips and worksheets on 20 topics and includes a glossary and a teacher’s manual. A study kit “The stories of Pille and Lauri” designed for hard-of-hearing adults to learn Estonian has worksheets on 20 topics and includes videos and electronic exercises, a dictionary and a teacher’s manual. A special part deals with the correct pronunciation of Estonian phonemes.
Both prepared kits of study materials meet the requirements of language level A2 set by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and enable people to learn Estonian with the help of a teacher as well as independently following the instructions given in the teacher’s manual.
OÜ Sola Integra will organise Estonian language studies for adults with special needs using these new learning materials. Additional information on how to participate in the course can be obtained from the e-mail addresses anita@koolitaja.ee or tiit@koolitaja.ee. The course will start in October.
Language learning for partially sighted and hard-of-hearing persons is financed by the European Social Fund within the framework of the “Language Learning Development 2011-2013” programme of the measure “Language Learning Development” of the priority axis “Lifelong Learning” of the Human Resources Development Operational Plan.
For further information, please contact: Tea Kotkas, Coordinator of MISA Lifelong Learning Unit, tel 659 9061, e-mail tea.kotkas@meis.ee
Applications for compensation of Estonian language studies’ costs will be received until the end of September
The Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) reminds everybody that have passed the Estonian language proficiency examination in May and June that within the framework of the ending European Social Fund programme compensation of language study costs can be applied for until the end of 30 September of this year.
Starting from October, compensation of costs can be applied for only from the state budget via Foundation Innove in cases specified in the Citizenship Act and the Language Act, i.e. after passing the examinations required when applying for the citizenship of the Republic of Estonia or the proficiency examination within the term prescribed in a precept issued by the Language Inspectorate.
MISA compensates language study costs within the framework of the “Language Learning Development 2011-2013” programme of the measure “Language Learning Development” of the priority axis “Lifelong Learning” of the European Social Fund Human Resources Development Operational Plan.
Additional information about the requirements set for compensation and necessary forms are available on MISA web page.
For further information, please contact: Riina Ring, Coordinator of MISA Lifelong Learning Unit, tel 659 9030, e-mail riina.ring@meis.ee
Citizen’s Day e-quiz for young people will be organised again!
The Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) will organise once again the Citizen’s Day quiz to mark the Citizen’s Day of the Republic of Estonia celebrated on 26 November.
The quiz will be opened on 25 November and will continue until 6 December. The e-quiz includes also video and auditory questions besides regular questions.
Citizen’s Day is dedicated to the citizens of Estonia, their rights and obligations. The goal of the quiz is to make young people think about citizenship and motivate them to acknowledge what it means to be a citizen of Estonia.
On Citizen’s Day, 7th-9th grade pupils of general education schools and also pupils of vocational schools compete in their knowledge about citizenship for the eleventh year. For the first time, the Citizen’s Day quiz will also be organised for pupils of 5th and 6th grades of general education schools. The questions for the quiz for the younger participants have been prepared by undergraduates or pupils that have just graduated from the general education schools. In addition to the country wide Internet quiz, the Citizen’s Day quizzes will be organised in counties as well as schools.
“The idea of being a citizen of Estonia and behaving as a citizen was one of the objectives of the Non-Estonians Integration Foundation (presently the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People) from its establishment. Although more than 10 years ago there was a lot of talk about the need and possibilities of learning Estonian, very little was explained to people with undefined citizenship about the basic requirements for acquiring Estonian citizenship and also what rights being a citizen gives them. These topics were not explained in depth,” said Toivo Sikk, Coordinator of MISA Multicultural Education Unit.
“People are aware that a citizen must know the language of the country, but a good citizen must also understand the history and know the laws of the country. A good citizen knows what customs are accepted in the country and respects different ethnic groups living there. This definition of the citizen provides a wide base for the quiz questions. A good citizen should know as much as possible about the country of which citizen he/she is,” said Sikk.
In ten years, more than 35,208 schoolchildren and almost 2,000 people outside the school system have replied to the quiz questions, because last year was the first year when all other interested were allowed to participate in the quiz.
The Provincial Assembly (Diet) adopted a regulation about the citizenship of the Estonian Democratic Republic on 26 November 1918 establishing the legal definition of the Estonian citizen for the first time. Citizen’s Day is celebrated in Estonia since 1998.
For further information, please contact: Toivo Sikk, Coordinator of MISA Multicultural Education Unit, tel 659 9850, e-mail toivo.sikk@meis.ee
An essay competition on participating in society for young people begins in October
An essay competition for schoolchildren organised by the Ministry of Education and Research and the Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) with the objective of encouraging young people to think what an active involvement in society means will be opened on 14 October.
Works authored by pupils of 7th-12th grade and vocational schools to the essay competition “What an active involvement in society means to me, a citizen of Estonia?”, which is organised for the third year in a row, may be submitted until 1st November. The competition is organised as part of the Citizen’s Day celebration.
The essays must be written in Estonian, have rich vocabulary and be up to two pages (3,600 characters) long. The assessment criteria are a logical structure of the text, its coherence and fluency.
“We would like to see that the writer of the essay understands the set task, knows how to emphasise the importance of the text and argument the points in the writing. When reading an essay, we would like to understand the author’s world-view, his/her experience and interpersonal relationships. We would like to see that young Estonian citizens are aware of the impact on society of what they have said or done,” commented Toivo Sikk, Coordinator of MISA Multicultural Education Unit.
More detailed requirements of the essay competition will be published on the MISA homepage on 10 October. After the end of the essay competition, summaries of assessors and best authors will be disclosed on the same homepage.
For further information, please contact: Toivo Sikk, Coordinator of MISA Multicultural Education Unit, tel 659 9850, e-mail toivo.sikk@meis.ee
A new application round for Sunday schools of national minorities opens
The Integration and Migration Foundation Our People (MISA) offers support to Sunday schools of national minorities for their development and for covering costs related to everyday work.
“Sunday schools that have activities assisting non-Estonian children in developing their mother tongue and shaping a positive attitude towards it are being awaited in the application round. Support will be given to Sunday schools and activities that also introduce national culture and customs, Sunday school activities and increase the cooperation between Sunday schools,” explained Kristina Pirgop, Coordinator of MISA Multicultural Education Unit.
The applicants must be registered in the Estonian Education Information System and organise studies related to mother tongue, national culture and history for at least 100 academic hours in a year.
The support is designed for study activities that last up to 9.5 months and will not commence before 1 September 2013. The activities must be completed before 16 June 2014. The study activities must be carried out in Estonia and the pupils must be between 3-18 years of age. Sunday school pupils must be representatives of national minorities by origin whose culture and language is the basis of the application of the particular Sunday school.
The deadline for the submission of applications is 8 October. Documents of the application round and additional information will be available on the homepage of the Foundation soon.
The application round is financed through the Ministry of Education and Research from the state budget and within the framework of the Estonian Integration Strategy 2008-2013.
For further information, please contact: Kristina Pirgop, Coordinator of MISA Multicultural Education Unit, tel 659 9024, e-mail kristina.pirgop@meis.ee
