Skip to content
TAMK International

Hot Takes on Multilingualism in the most Romantic City in the World

— simo.vainionpaa@tuni.fi

When the summer was just around the corner, I was offered the opportunity to attend a UNINOVIS workshop in Paris at the end of June. I was happy to go and represent TAMK in the most romantic city of the world even though the event took place during my summer break. That was no issue at all, but other challenges arose as the worst heatwave in France’s recorded history the very same day as did I. Indeed, the UNINOVIS workshop held from 24 to 26 June coincided with the hottest days ever recorded in France.

Despite the heat, a party of brave UNINOVIS members gathered at Université Paris Sorbonne Nord. I had the chance to meet our partners from Germany, the Netherlands, Albania, Lithuania and France. The aim of the workshop was to develop a shared vision for multilingualism and intercultural collaboration within UNINOVIS. Further objectives included positioning multilingualism as a strategic enabler for mobility and aligning multilingualism priorities with UNINOVIS Work Packages and alliance objectives. The outcome was supposed to be a draft for the final multilingualism strategy for our young alliance.

In practice, the discussion revolved greatly around various institution policies and activities as well as general introductions of each university. We learned about our respective courses and degree programs that are taught partially or entirely in English. We identified certain language barriers that might hinder student mobility. We reflected on the dominance of English language which continues to challenge the study of smaller and minority languages. I think this is one of the most interesting issues we face also here in Finland – how to balance between the use of English, Finnish and Swedish while staying connected to the international community and, at the same time, preserving our culture and languages.

Even though the university facilities lacked air conditioning, our small team managed to maintain fruitful discussions concerning the future strategy on multilingualism across UNINOVIS partner institutions. It must be admitted, though, that the extreme heat took its toll on everyone, which is why the event concluded slightly earlier in the hot hours of the afternoon.

The cool hours of the early morning were my time off, so of course I had to take a look at some of the famous sights in Paris: the Basilica of Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre, the bustling Place de la Concorde with the view to the Eiffel Tower and the charming banks of the river Seine.

As always, it was great to connect with international colleagues, but hopefully we’ll meet our UNINOVIS partners somewhere cooler next time – like in Tampere at any time of the year!

 

Author: Katja Kärki

Lecturer of English and Swedish (KiVi)

Keep reading

THUAS takes the lead in UNINOVIS communications: The fruits of The Hague trip

At the beginning of November, UNINOVIS European Universities Alliance welcomed its newest member, The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS), bringing the number of full member-HEIs to eight. Upon joining, THUAS assumed the responsibility for planning and coordinating communications and marketing actions of the alliance, as well as defining the brand message of Uninovis. It was to this end that a meeting of all Uninovis communication leads was organized in The Hague on 10-11 November. The 2-day visit also provided an ample opportunity for the European colleagues to get to know the THUAS main campus, since most of us were in The Hague for the first time.