„Discovering our lands, our beauties”
Comenius programme of bilateral cooperation 2008-2010
Project coordinator: Istituto Tecnico "Vittorio Emanuele III", Lucera, Italy [1]
Project partner: Kereskedelmi, Idegenforgalmi és Vendéglátóipari Szakközépiskola és Szakiskola, Pécs (Secondary School and Vocational Training School of Commerce, Tourism and Catering in Pécs)
Name of the project: „Discovering our lands, our beauties”
Working language of the project: English
Project outline:
The main object of the project is the exchange of students from both schools to develop a better mutual understanding between the two towns, the regions and the two countries especially from the viewpoint of tourism.
The main “product” of this cooperation will be two exhibitions (one in each town) to present one’s own town, region and country to the interested public of the other town, focussing on attractions of historical, cultural, gastronomic interest, natural beauties and on folk culture and art.
These exhibitions will not be restricted to the two schools but will be organized on town level offering the citizens of both towns the possibility of better getting to know the other side’s values. This, of course, will only be possible with the support and collaboration of local tourist organizations and local media on both sides; these will therefore participate in the programme as partner institutions.
Objectives of the cooperation
In the interest of the students of both schools, several aims are to be reached.
General aims
• to discover the cultural and historical heritage of one’s own native place, local traditions and historic monuments
• to develop open-mindedness about another culture
• to compare one’s own cultural roots with those of another European country
• information exchange about research results
• to establish and practise communication with people of another cultural and linguistic background
• to adopt methods of cooperative learning through group work experiences
• improvement of general language skills in English
• to establish contacts and friendship with teachers and students of other European countries
• to deliver presentations and personal reports on information and experiences gained through comparison of both cultures
Concrete aims
• improvement of English language skills, especially in those fields given below:
- * depiction of hotels, touristic destinations and attractions
- * using the English language on the Web, e.g. while writing emails
- * compilation of presentations, information exchange
- * acquirement of the basic vocabulary used in different fields linked with the project
According to the objectives of the project, primarily students of the departments of tourism will be involved in the common activities.
Tasks
The cooperation starts with getting to know each other, first through the Web. The students keep in touch by way of emails. Through an exchange of letters they get to know about each other’s interests, habits and preferences, their families and school lives etc. They may even become friends before their first personal meeting and thus provide a basis for a fruitful cooperation.
The students are organized into work groups, each one with a special topic and related assignments.
The work groups treat the following topics:
• PR, media (presentations of the exhibitions delivered to the press; videos, brochures etc.)
• history and historic monuments
• natural beauties, local celebrities
• folk art, local products, cuisine, restaurants and hotels
• touristic services, cultural events
Teachers assist in the work in these five groups.
All material collected has to be translated into English. As the exhibitions will be organized mainly for the benefit of the citizens of both towns, the then used languages will be Hungarian or Italian. That means translation work for the students, too: the descriptions of all objects presented in the exhibitions has to be translated into English, sent to the partner, and then translated into the local language. Both schools will discuss the organization of the exhibitions, time and place with their local partners.
To establish first contacts and to prepare the exhibitions, both towns will receive a smaller group of teachers and students (heads of the 5 work groups) of the partner school for a visit. During these meetings details of the work and possible problems will be discussed.
During the exchange periods, students will be assigned different tasks in order to better get to know the partner region by personal experience, they will have to keep a diary and collect documents and pictures to be able to report about their stay. There personal reports will be presented on their school’s homepage, maybe on a common website set up by both schools.
Course of action
- Exchange of emails by the students
- Establishment of a common blog-site, where participants in the project can exchange their ideas
- December 2008: Project meeting in Pécs (with 3 teachers and 5 students from Italy)
- April 2009: Visit of a Hungarian delegation in Lucera, Italy. Two teachers, ca. 30 students as well as representatives of some partner organizations will stay there for about 10 days. They will present the exhibition on Pécs and surrounding areas. There will be opportunity to discuss current developments and possible problems
- May 2009: The members of the Hungarian delegation will back at their school give a resentation about their experiences during their trip
- April 2010: Visit of an Italian delegation in Hungary. Two teachers, ca. 26 students and representatives of some partner organizations will stay in Pécs for about 10 days
Presentation of their exhibition, sightseeing in Pécs and the region
- May 2010: The members of the Italian delegation will back at their school give a presentation about their experiences during their trip
Italian Project Manager: Mr Michele De Rosario
Hungarian Project Manager: Mrs Csilla Kengyelné Muth
Please have a look at some pictures about
- the exhibition of our school in Lucera in April 2009,
- the exhibition of our Italian friends here in Pécs in April 2010.
Back to English Homepage KIVISZ Pécs EN
Presentation, Translations etc.: Thomas C. DAHN, Teacher and German Lector
