Polish Language and Culture (Beginners)
Why should I take this Trinity Elective?
Polish is the language of around 50 million people worldwide. In Ireland, it is the language of the country’s largest minority; in fact, more people speak Polish at home than Irish. This Trinity Elective will offer you an insight into the language, culture, and identity of one of the largest countries in the EU. Taking this elective will give you a roadmap for further exploration of Poland’s rich film and literary production, as well as the basics of Polish language, the largest Slavonic language in the EU. Learning about Polish language and culture will give you a world of information about an important region of Europe and a key minority culture in Ireland.
Please note that this is not a traditional language module and language study will be combined with discussions of cultural materials.
What will I learn?
- You will acquire linguistic and cultural knowledge in Polish language and culture.
- You will explore the different and diverse meanings of “Polishness” in culture and society
- You will learn about the Polish diaspora, including in Ireland, and its contributions to Polish culture
What will I do?
- You will attend classes on Polish language and culture.
- You will interact with online learning resources provided by the instructor.
- You will read examples of Polish literature and film and react to them in your module journal.
- You will prepare to discuss a topic of your choosing, first on an online forum and then during a group recording of a podcast episode.
How will this be delivered?
The Polish Language and Culture elective module will follow a blended format. There will be 2 hours of face-to-face contact per week. At the end of the module, we will also meet in person, as a group or in smaller sub-groups, to record a guest episode for Polska.ie, a podcast run by Polish Studies in Trinity, discussing the topics you have learned about in the module. The rest of the study will take place online, through engagement with online learning resources, which will include completing a reading journal and participating in an online discussion of selected topics of Polish culture and language.
- 11 hours of in-class language instruction
- 11 hours of in-class discussion of Polish culture
- ~77 hours of self-directed learning (interacting with online resources, forum discussion, reading preparation for quiz, preparation for podcast recording)
- 1 hour of podcast production (preparation on site, recording
How will this be assessed?
- Two ungraded check-in sessions with the instructor, letting you get feedback on your learning
- 30% language quiz
- 15% completing a reading journal on Blackboard
- 25% Participation in an online discussion board on selected topics in Polish language and culture, preparing you for the podcast episode
- 30% recording a podcast episode
Who can take this Trinity Elective?
- Any student eligible to take a Trinity Elective except those in existing Polish courses (Business Studies and Polish, European Studies with Polish, Middle Eastern, European Languages and Cultures with Polish) or students with prior knowledge of Polish at above A1. If you have questions about this, contact the coordinator of this Trinity Elective.