Our PhD Students Visit Bilingualism Day

The culmination of the efforts of the foreign language teachers’ team in the Chęciny municipality was the Bilingualism Day celebrated on Wednesday, May 29. On this day, an English language competition for students of grades VI, VII, and VIII from all schools in the Chęciny municipality and city was held at the General Stanisław Skalski Primary School in Polichno. After the internal school eliminations, 16 students took part in the final test.

This year, the preparation for Bilingualism Day actively involved PhD students from the Doctoral School of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce: Ms. Anastassiya Starodubtseva and Mr. Dmytro Klymenko.

The PhD students prepared interesting lectures that served as a prelude to discussions with the students. Ms. Anastassiya presented her native country, Kazakhstan, in English during her speech. She introduced geographical, natural, climatic, and culinary curiosities. She dedicated a lot of attention to the historical ties between Kazakhstan and Poland. Mr. Klymenko dedicated a significant portion of his lecture to Slavic languages. He discussed the origins of these languages, how they are divided, and their common features. He devoted considerable time to etymological issues and translation errors. The conclusion that resonated most strongly from the PhD students’ lectures was that only knowing at least two foreign languages allows one to navigate the world freely, pursue one’s passions, and, as shown by the invited guests’ own examples, study in other countries. The organized Bilingualism Day was not only an emphasis on the role of a second language in the lives of young people but also the beginning of cooperation between the UJK Doctoral School in Kielce and primary schools in the Chęciny municipality.

We thank Ms. Anastassiya and Mr. Dmytro for their engagement and participation in this interesting initiative.