The aim of our project LANGUAGE(O)LYMPICS is to develop educational and practical skills among teenage students (15-19) as well as teachers by combining sport with a foreign language, knowledge in history and skills technological competencies. Why is this important? Sport is a sphere of life which unites people regardless of age, race, nationality, physical abilities or origin. It develops proper social ethics, boosts self-esteem, shapes the character and helps to create correct social attitude. Sportsmen and sportswomen are often admired for their status, achievements, and sometimes for their inspiring journey to success. Not only does sport bring fun but it also plays an indispensable role in terms of health. The lack of language competences prevents us from full participation in European education, training and youth programmes. Therefore our project offers activities which strengthen such competencies and improve cooperation and networking between schools. Languages also enable us to share and exchange information to better understand other nationalities and historical events. This is beneficial for building European identity and integration. An example of such activities is Sports day (Olympics day), during which historical games from various countries will be practised and shared. Activities which test the implementation of innovative practices in the field of education will be also included: We will create an Ebook with photos and supporting vocabulary to describe these historical sports. We will come up with a syllabus for an extra-curricular course for young sportsmen, referees and coaches with the emphasis on language competencies. The project will facilitate students´ skills and competences acquired through both formal and non-formal learning and will greatly encourage them to apply these skills after the completion of the project f.e. volunteer at sport sessions, help in clubs or create sport activities for children. We believe that our project will bring these benefits : - improvements in increasing the students' awareness of their cultural heritage - improvements in language key competences - students will develop the ability to read with comprehension texts in standard language on sport specializations, they will be able to cope with most of the situations that might occur on a trip abroad, interact with other speakers, produce simple and coherent texts about various topic, describe experiences, events, as well as briefly justify opinions or explain plans. - improvements in communication skills which will help students in their future careers and relationships - creation of tools, aids, materials for language teaching on sport topics - in the development of teaching and learning strategies - new ideas and stimuli for lessons, physical exercise, increasing interest in the matter, increasing understanding of its meaningfulness - renew sport facilities and sport equipment - influence the decision-makers to build better sports facilities in schools - interaction with people of different ages, teamwork and cooperation with others - students´ teamwork will teach them about each other´s strength and weaknesses and will help them to become better at decisions and strategies for their team - discouragement of sedentary activities such as watching TV, using smart phones etc. Enhancing intercultural learning is very important nowadays to eliminate the barriers, accept the differences and acquire cultural knowledge. Our project will help to develop intercultural competencies. We need intercultural competences not only to understand people from different cultures, to understand how they think, feel and act but we also to overcome differences within our own culture. Intercultural learning, as a part of our project, will promote the view that no culture is better or worse than the other and that there is no hierarchy of cultures. Intercultural learning will guide our students to adjust their images about cultural groups and about individuals (belonging to cultural groups), to actively listen to the others, and offer them the space to freely manifest their cultural identity. In this process, our students will learn to refrain from labelling people and prevent themselves from categorising others. Moreover, we do believe that students participating in the project will begin to see more similarities between people, cultures,identities, views and behaviours. There is no doubt that we are experiencing a profound change that, supported by new technologies, offers us great opportunities and challenges. These elements not only provide new tools, but also influence the teachers position in the world, our role as facilitators and motivators.
The aim of our LANGUAGE(O)LYMPICS project was to develop the educational and practical skills of young people (15-19 years old) and teachers by combining sport with a foreign language, to gain knowledge of history and to acquire, improve and share skills related to technological competences. Why is this important? Sport is an area of life that brings people together regardless of age, race, nationality, physical ability or background. It develops good social ethics, raises self-esteem, builds character and helps to create the right social attitudes. Athletes are often admired for their status, their achievements and sometimes for their inspirational journey to success. As well as being fun, sport plays an essential role in health. Lack of language skills often prevents us from fully participating in European education or training programmes for young people. Our project offered activities to strengthen these skills, improve cooperation and create links between schools, allowing us to share and exchange information to better understand other nationalities and historical events. This is beneficial for building European identity and integration. A variety of activities were carried out to achieve the objectives. - A sports day where participants tried out different sports activities from the past. It also included activities that tested the application of innovative practices in the field of education. Students taught the rules of the game and refereed the game in English. They learned some history from each other. How the rules of basketball, handball, football or floorball have changed. - We visited sports venues that are important for historical or regional reasons. - We talked to athletes who motivated young people and adults to keep working on themselves. - We spent time in workshops communicating in English and learning how to work in an international team. - We got to know places, cities and countries, their history and culture. As a result of the project we offer - Project logo - Presentations about the cities, schools and countries of the participating countries and travel diaries - Stories of athletes, national and local role models - Presentations on the history of different sports and sports venues, national foods and diets, healthy lifestyles, e-sports - Vocabulary and applications to increase vocabulary and its use in extra-curricular courses for young athletes, referees and coaches, with an emphasis on language skills. - Questionnaires to evaluate the activities, the mobility and the project as a whole - An e-book with photos, presentations, recordings, videos and a supporting dictionary. The project facilitated the acquisition of skills and competences by the students as it was a non-formal and innovative learning experience and strongly encouraged them to apply the acquired skills after the project. They were already working as volunteers, helping in clubs or creating sports activities for the children, and at the same time it motivated them to pursue lifelong learning. We believe that our project has brought these short and long term benefits: - Increased pupils' awareness of their own cultural heritage - Motivation to learn about other cultures, the need for multiculturalism and respect for different approaches Intercultural education as part of our project has promoted the idea that no culture is better or worse than another and that there is no hierarchy of cultures. - Improving key language skills - the ability to read with understanding, to cope with most situations likely to arise during a trip abroad, to communicate with other speakers, to produce simple and coherent texts on a variety of topics, to describe experiences and events, to present and briefly justify opinions, to explain plans and intentions. - create tools, aids and materials for language teaching on sports topics - in the development of teaching and learning strategies - bringing new ideas and stimuli into the classroom, physical exercises, increasing interest in the subject, increasing understanding of its importance - Renewal of sports facilities and equipment in the participating schools - By disseminating the results of the project, we have informed decision-makers, local authorities and the public to build better sports facilities in schools and to take an interest in this part of youth education. - We enabled young people to interact with people of different ages, to work as a team and to cooperate with others. They learned to recognise each other's strengths and weaknesses, make better decisions and develop strategies for their team. - The project was open to all to discourage sedentary behaviour and encourage healthy lifestyles. In the process, our students learned not to label people and not to categorise themselves. In addition, we believe that the students who participated in the project will begin to see more similarities between people, cultures, identities, beliefs and behaviours.