Organised under the aegis of the Integration Foundation, the KU-КУ Estonian language fair showcasing ways of learning the national language was this year attended by more visitors than ever, with over 1100 people taking part in the event. Most were driven by their desire to communicate in the language.
“It was great to see so many people of so many different nationalities from Tallinn and surrounds coming to the fair with such a strong interest in learning Estonian,” said Kätlin Kõverik, the senior adviser with the Integration Foundation responsible for the fair. “It was nice to meet the teachers and the representatives of employers who had come along to take a look at the latest materials and find out about the latest techniques as well. My thanks to everyone for making the event such a success!”
The feedback from those who visited the fair and from partners indicates that the most popular materials and techniques were those which enable users to learn Estonian through communication, since most of the attendees want to learn the language in order to be able to use it actively. For example, the most well-attended workshops were the language café and the improvisational course “Juhan”.
One in every 10 visitors also purchased new learning materials at the fair. Meetings with authors (Mall Pesti, Mare Kitsnik and Leelo Kingisepp) also proved popular, with the authors sharing their own recommendations for language-learning.
“KU-КУ showed once again that interest in learning Estonian is growing all the time,” said Kõverik. “That’s why we’ve already started talking to our partners about the next fair. Until then though, anyone interested can continue to find the information they need about learning Estonian on the Integration Foundation’s website at www.integratsioon.ee.”
The KU-КУ Estonian language fair was held at Tallinn’s Song Festival Grounds from 11:00-17:00 on 23 March.
Gallery
Link to view and download photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/740f21m8t0o1x2b/AAArMeQOCX7O3z1D_WcuRt_Ua?dl=0 (author - Kati Visnap).
