More than PLN 1.3 million will be granted to beneficiaries in this year’s “Promotion of the Polish language” programme organised by the National Agency for Academic Exchange. The programme’s objective is to promote the Polish language with elements of Polish history and culture by financing projects that build the quality of teaching and prestige of the Polish language as a foreign language, with a lasting impact on Poland’s image in the world.

Warsaw University projects received the highest marks for ” Walls will fall – the Polish refugee experience in culture and literature” and “Latest Polish lexis – in cultural aspect”.

The first project will address issues related to the transmission of knowledge about the Polish refugee experience and cultural initiatives undertaken by Polish activists who had to live and create abroad.

The second project involves conducting a series of classes on the latest Polish vocabulary in a cultural context at partner universities abroad (Hungary, France, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and the Netherlands). The project responds to the demand of learners of Polish abroad for contact with contemporary vocabulary commonly used in the media, in conversations, in film dialogues, etc.

“As vocabulary is a testimony to cultural changes, the classes will focus on this aspect. It will allow students to deepen their knowledge of the changes in contemporary culture and recent history, as well as contemporary Poland”, explain the project’s creators.

Funding will also be provided to the Academy of Humanities and Economics in Łódź, the Jan Długosz University of Humanities and Sciences in Częstochowa, the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, the Institute of Literary Research and the Institute of Slavonic Studies at the Polish Academy of Sciences, as well as the University of Silesia in Katowice, the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and the University of Wrocław.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński