End-of-Summer Activities for Third-Country Nationals
For the project participants, the end of August turned out to be quite eventful – seven groups completed our 120-hour language course, and on 24 August the End-of-Summer Event took place at the Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. The purpose of the Event was to enable immigrants in Latvia and their family members to practice the Latvian language, gain knowledge about history, culture, meet and socialise as well as take part in joint activities.
During the Event, the participants took part in an interactive game (quiz), visited the Kurzeme and Vidzeme homesteads of the museum, tasted delicious food, took part in games and dances with a folklore ensemble, and also met with course mates, got acquainted with the museum offer, etc. Photos
Since the language learning classes were conducted only online, it was a great opportunity for the participants to meet in person and communicate with their course mates, the teacher, the project team, and get to know other students undergoing training at the Educational Development Center (EDC). It was also an opportunity to practically use the language they had been studying using a computer in the previous three months. Feeling ill-at-ease at the beginning of the Event, the participants soon were joyful and happy as they were participating in joint Latvian folk games, enjoying delicious snacks and herbal tea at the cafe Pūnīte.
The End-of-Summer Event participants could learn about the museum together with their family or individually by visiting the places marked on the map as part of the quiz about various exhibits of the Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum prepared by the project methodologist in the Latvian language.
Only positive feedback was received:
I was happy to participate in the Event with my family and get to know this museum.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate. I couldn’t even imagine that the museum would be so interesting.
I have never seen such old buildings. It was interesting.
I liked looking for answers to the quiz questions together with my family.
It's great that the quiz questions were in Latvian, and I understood everything and found the answers.
While searching the answers to the questions, I learned some new words.
I liked that we all were the winners of the quiz.
I found similarities with a similar museum in Ukraine
Many participants were delighted to take part in the games and dances:
I liked games and dances most of all. I have never heard such music or seen such musical instruments.
It's great that our kids could participate in the games, too.
I haven't danced like that in a long time. It was fun.
I liked that we all danced together and understood what we had to do.
I liked the songs; I used to sing in a folklore ensemble.
The participants appreciated the positive atmosphere, the food and the opportunity to meet with the course mates and teachers. The Event was attended by about 80 participants both adults and children. The Project Team thanks the participants for their participation!
