VMU Celebrated the European Day of Languages in the VMU Kaunas Botanical Garden
The 25th of September was marked by the annual celebration of the European Day of Languages at Vytautas Magnus University. This time the Institute of Foreign Languages invited the VMU community and guests to the VMU Botanical Garden where the tournament of orienteering was held in the open air. Members of the orienteering teams competed for the 2nd IFL cup “Fight for a Language”.
19 teams, 6 of which were from various Kaunas schools, fought for the title of the smartest. Each student and pupil group represented different languages and demonstrated extraordinary inventiveness in presenting themselves. Slogans in English, Lithuanian, Latvian, Japanese, Spanish, Italian and other languages could be heard everywhere. Each team also showed different attributes and symbols of the represented country – students of the Italian language decorated themselves with Italian national flags, students of Japanese wore stylized head ornaments and had martial art sticks. The youngest pupils representing the Lithuanian language and bearing the slogan “We are paving the road to the native language” stood out in bright vests.
In the course of the tournament, teams not only had to find different spots of the botanical garden, but also solved puzzles that required all possible knowledge in languages and cultures. According to the Director of the VMU Institute of Foreign Languages, assoc. prof. dr. Vilma Bijeikienė preparation of the tournament tasks and the places to be visited were predetermined by the garden environment itself. A Turkish hazel, trees typical only of North America, an oak planted to honour the President of Poland with the inscription in Polish and Lithuanian can be found in the garden. V. Bijeikienė expressed her happiness not only in connection to the advantageous venue but also about the support of the botanical garden staff during the event.
While waiting for the competition results and the announcement of the cup winners, the participants and guests took part in presentations of different cultures, tasted the celebration cake and herbal tea and listened to the concert of the VMU Musical Academy students.
Three pupil and three student teams were rewarded. The guest team from Juozas Dobkevičius pro-gymnasium who fought for the English language won the first place. The student team “Viva Italia” was the first among other student teams. They won the big prize – the opportunity to study one language of the 30 offered by VMU Institute of Foreign Languages free of charge.
It is not the first time that we are inventively celebrating the European Day of Languages at VMU by cherishing nature and promoting healthy life style. Last year students were invited to participate in the basketball tournament and fight for different languages. In 2012 owing to the VMU IFL a Lithuanian record was achieved – an open multilingual lesson, the biggest in the number of participants, the languages taught and the teachers who delivered them in their native language, was held in Vienybės square.
The European Day of Languages is officially celebrated on the 26th of September by the decision of the European Council.
Vigilija Žiūraitė
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