Date added: 2025-02-24
Meeting with the philologist and author of books
- Where do shame and fear of speaking a foreign language come from?
- What role do our expectations, the education system, and the opinions of others play in forming our relationship with a new language?
These are the topics we will discuss with Jagoda Ratajczak, author of the book "Luka. Jak wstyd i lęk dziurawią nam język ", in which the philologist draws on the works of famous linguists, cites research, and interviews teachers, polyglots, psychologists, and ordinary language users. The author will explain why we are ashamed of mistakes in a foreign language and why we evaluate our own and others' accents.
The meeting titled "Why are we afraid to speak English?" will be the final event of the first edition of the OPEN UP! DARE TO! program. Its main goal is to enhance the intercultural, communication, and language skills of employees, PhD students, and students. As part of the program, training sessions on etiquette and inclusive language, meetings with the Baltic Sea Cultural Center, the Emigration Museum, and Gdańsk Center for Equal Treatment, as well as a screening of the film "Green Book" followed by a lecture by a film scholar, have already taken place. More information about the program can be found on the International Relations Office website.
Meeting titled Why Are We Afraid to Speak English?
Thursday, February 27
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Conference Room, Hydromechanics Building No. 11
Event in Polish, additionally translated into English
About the guest of the meeting
Jagoda Ratajczak – Philologist, sworn and conference translator, member of the Polish Society of Sworn and Specialized Translators (TEPIS). A graduate of the Faculty of English at Adam Mickiewicz University. Author of the book Języczni. Co język robi naszej głowie (Linguists: What Language Does to Our Minds) (2020), the first popular science publication in Poland dedicated to multilingualism, and Luka. Jak wstyd i lęk dziurawią nam język. As a member of TEPIS and a translator with fourteen years of practice, she teaches translation to aspiring professionals and other practicing translators. On her social media, she popularizes knowledge about linguistics and specialized translation, including legal English. She lives in Poznań.
The intercultural competence enhancement program OPEN UP! DARE TO! is part of the project "Internationalization of Gdańsk University of Technology: development of WELCOME SERVICES/promoting WELCOME CULTURE” No. BNP/WTP/2023/1/00169/U/00001, which is funded by the National Agency for Academic Exchange as part of the Welcome to Poland program.
