In the second phase of the project “My Latvian Language Portfolio,” funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the conversation language club “I want to talk to you” held sessions from February 15 to June 27, 2024. These sessions were organized in five groups: three in-person A2 level groups, one remote A2 and one remote B1 level group.
The sessions with opinion leaders and experts generated excitement among participants. To maintain intrigue, teachers asked the club members to guess the experts’ professions, with many guessing actors or athletes. Instead, Ilze Stabulniece and Viktors Piļščikovs, owners of the “Klajumi” horse farm, were invited. They shared their business experience to support language learning, expanding participants’ understanding of Latvian social and cultural contexts, particularly those of Latgale region. The session enriched the participants’ vocabulary and knowledge about rural life, horses, hunting, and Latgale’s culinary heritage. Educational materials, including video clips from the “Foal Games” and a video of Ilze making Jāņi cheese, enhanced interactivity and were followed by tasks to stimulate ingenuity.
The owners of “Klajumi” also discussed overcoming language barriers when communicating with foreigners, encouraging participants to use Latvian confidently in daily life. At the end of the session, in a friendly atmosphere, the club members discussed the farm’s motto “Always on horseback!”, the “Foal Games” events and the riders’ costumes.
The project’s target audience worked successfully with volunteer native speakers, improving their communicative competence and acquiring new vocabulary. A post-session survey involving 67 respondents, who answered 19 questions, revealed that 82% felt increased motivation to use Latvian in daily communication and improved their language skills. The respondents highlighted the positive psychological environment and effective cooperation during the sessions. Most participants felt that the sessions facilitated their integration into Latvian society.
The conversation language club is organized within the framework of the project “My Latvian Language Portfolio”, No. PMIF/13.2./2023/1/10, as part of the activity 13.2. “Inclusion of third-country nationals in the local community by promoting the use and learning of the Latvian language” of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund’s 2021-2027 planning period.
