Between the 25th and the 29th of September our academic coordinator Marco Marino along with our Italian coordinator Nunzia Travaglione traveled to the Estonian capital of Tallin to participate in the very first conference of “Langlete in ESTFIT”, funded by the Grundtvig program of the European Union. Sant’Anna Institute was joined by the Center of Culture and History Amalfitana, the Educational Center of Kohila in Estonia and the linguistic center “Learnwell” of Helsinki in Finland. This project looks at all the new applicable developments and methodology of language teaching through the exchange of “Best Practices” between countries of diverse language and culture.

Marco and Nunzia tells us about their experience.

“We had a very warm welcome at Tallin, despite the rigid weather, similar to December or January in Soorento! It’s the other experiences we’d like to talk about though… We returned to Italy very “enriched” particularly because this program allowed and encouraged an environment of real exchange between diverse and distanced cultures. A meeting of professionals (as everyone was placed within groups of common work experience, we learned a lot from each other), but above all a meeting of people: towards the end of the meetings at night you’d be astonished to see how all (or almost!) the differences between us fell in front of a plate of typical Estonian cooking (!), perhaps through the satisfaction that came from the results of the meeting, or the human aspect of a simple visit to the library, or maybe it was the joyful, relaxing feel of laughter shared... This project also reminded us of the profound significance of the European ideal, “out” with the formal rhetorical statements and “in” with the real life, marking professional commitment, personal growth and the human relationship of those who participated”

The next meeting will be in Sorrento (April 2013) and Almalfi (October 2013).