Academic Language Partner - come and learn Estonian from colleagues or teach Estonian to your colleagues!

Dear colleague! The Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics invites university staff to participate in the Academic Estonian Language Partner course for practice in communication in Estonian. Come and learn Estonian from colleagues or teach Estonian to your colleagues!

What is the Academic Estonian Language Partner course?

The Academic Estonian Language Partner course (HVEE.TK.102 "Academic Estonian Language Partner") is open to both international staff members interested in Estonian communication practice and colleagues who speak Estonian and wish to support them.

There is no better way to learn a language than to communicate in that language! The Academic Estonian Language Partner course is primarily about interacting and spending time with your colleagues: we meet, chat, and participate in events in the city and at the university. During the course, we communicate exclusively in Estonian and help colleagues from other countries become part of the local culture and academic life.

Anyone can be a language teacher

This course offers many benefits even for native Estonian speakers – you gain experience in language and cultural mediation, get to know colleagues from your own and other faculties, and establish professional contacts.

How does learning take place?

You will be arranged into pairs and learn Estonian one on one. Further details can be organised in any way and any format agreed upon by the participants. Language companions can meet online once a week, have lunch together, or meet in a café after work. Perhaps you would like to invite a colleague to attend an event or plan a joint outing?

Communication-based language learning is like having a one-on-one lesson with a language teacher—you can learn and teach exactly what you ask each other about and wish to discuss.

There are three supervised meetings in September, November, and December. At other times, language companions communicate independently and stay in touch with instructors who are ready to advise and assist throughout the course.

When does it take place?

The first meeting will take place on 22 September, 2023, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Jakobi 2–423.

What level of language proficiency is required?

Since this is not a traditional guided language course, and your academic language partner is not a professional language teacher, then the participating international staff members should have at least basic proficiency in spoken Estonian.

Come and learn Estonian from colleagues or teach Estonian to your colleagues!

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