Otwarta Łódź – Filolodzy z Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego pomagają obcokrajowcom

On 17 November at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Lodz a meeting was held to sum up the cooperation between the Faculty of Philology of the University of Lodz and the City Guard Headquarters in Lodz. During the ceremony diplomas were handed in to officers who had completed the trainings under the "Open Łódź" project. All this to make it easier for foreign nationals to stay in Lodz.

The project mainly aims at joint actions to improve safety and integration of foreign nationals in Lodz. The project includes trainings and research activities.

We are planning to train more than 700 people, because other groups will also start the classes. On the one hand, we support foreign nationals – they are offered Polish language courses, which are very popular (we have more applicants than we can train). On the other hand, we are training the group of the first contact with foreign nationals – city guard officers, police officers and employees of the City of Lodz Office

dr Monika Kopytowska, the project manager explains assumptions of the project.

The "Open Łódź" project coordinated by dr Monika Kopytowska is the most important element of the faculty of Philology, UL with the city guard. The Faculty has been cooperating with the City Guard Headquarters in Lodz since 6 November 2019.

So far, thanks to the "Open Łódź" project 20 city guard officers from the City Guard in Lodz have been trained (another group of 22 people will start the classes on 24 November). The scope of trainings includes intercultural communication, communication with people with poor command of Polish, and English teaching at the basic level.

As part of the project the Faculty of Philology with the help of the City Guard, has prepared training and didactic materials in the form of a textbook for learning English at the basic level. There are also plans to create "Polish-English phrasebooks" for the city guard officers.

This is an excellent example that confirms cooperation of the University with the external environment, with representatives of services that are perhaps even more important than us – as what is more important than safety? We are really proud that we succeed in implementation of such kind of activities and that there are measurable effects

summed up prof. Artur Gałkowski, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Lodz for Academic Affairs and International Cooperation and Cooperation with the Socio-Economic Environment.

To understand others – how do the city guard officers evaluate participation in the project?

We have representatives from many city guard units here, many departments. We even have two duty officers – they are on the first line of telephone contact with people who speak only English. The skills that our officers have acquired here enable them to conduct their professional activities properly and respond to the calls coming from people who are guests in our country

thanked Patryk Polit, Commander of the City Guard in Lodz during the ceremony.

It is important to us that we are understood well – that is why such a training is valuable. Let’s remember that if we understand someone, it will be easier for us to communicate. It's not just about the language, but also about learning the mentality. The point is to understand others well and to make our reactions adequate to what these people want to communicate 

summed up Krzysztof Najder, training coordinator of the City Guard in Lodz.

It all started 2 years ago along with the launch of the "Open Łódź" project led by dr Monika Kopytkowska from the Institute of English Studies, University of Lodz.

So far, also 38 police officers from the Municipal Police Headquarters in Lodz have been trained and the next group is just starting the new series of classes. Classes with foreign nationals are conducted on an ongoing basis.

The "Open Łódź" project is co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund under the Knowledge, Education, Development Operational Programme and implemented within the framework of the National Centre for Research and Development agreement no. POWR.03.01.00 - IP.08.00- 3MU/18.

Feel welcome to check information posted in the UL Employee Knowledge Database, including news about calls for grant competitions, as well as a guide to projects implementation and management.   

 

Source, including the photos: Faculty of Philology, UL;

Edit: Promotion Centre, UL