Inauguration of the 50th edition of the Summer School of Polish Language and Culture at KUL

" The most important thing for me with the courses is to create a very friendly atmosphere where people from all over the world feel at ease. The idea is to make sure that they spend their time in the best possible way and get the most out of it," says Cezary Ruta, Director of the School of Polish Language and Culture.

The inauguration of the jubilee edition took place on 3 July at the Knowledge Transfer Centre under the chairmanship of the Vice-Rector for Education, Dr habil. Ewa Trzaskowska, who expressed the hope that after completing the course, participants would not only make significant progress in speaking Polish, but would also gain a deeper understanding of Polish culture and its traditions.

-  We offer courses of varying intensity from 2 to 8 weeks. Teaching is bilingual - Polish and English - informed the Vice-Rector Ewa Trzaskowska. She added that such a formula of education will create greater interest among participants and ensure their comfort.

More than 80 foreigners from 30 countries, including the United States, South Korea, Czechia, France and Hungary, have applied to take part in this year's Polish Language and Culture Summer School. This is an exceptional edition - the course is being held for the 50th time.
- 'From the very beginning, we have focused primarily on quality,' emphasised Director Cezary Ruta, 'and from the perspective of several decades, I can say that it has paid off for us, as we have not spent our time on minor events, but have offered courses of the highest quality all the time. Thanks to this, we attracted students, doctoral students, and employees of American universities, who repeatedly said that if you want to have a pleasant time, you go to Krakow, and if you want to really learn Polish, you come to Lublin at the Catholic University of Lublin.
Over the years, the centre has established cooperation with many foreign institutions, including the University of Wisconsin, the University of New Hampshire, and Chicago Public Schools.

- It gives us great satisfaction and pleasure to have representatives of prestigious American universities come to us to study Polish and learn about Polish culture over the summer holidays. Very often, these were people who had studied history or political relations in our region and who would in future influence US policy towards our country. Therefore, it was all the more important that the image of Poland with which they were leaving was as positive as possible", explained Cezary Ruta.
Participants in this year's course are, among others, scholarship holders from the National Agency for Academic Exchange, including students of Slavic studies and scholars dealing with Polish history and culture.
- The first edition of the course will last until the end of July, while the second edition will begin on 24 July, said Emil Wojtaluk, coordinator of the Summer School of Polish Language and Culture.

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The Summer School of Polish Language and Culture is organised every year by the School of Polish Language and Culture, one of the units of the Catholic University of Lublin, which has been running since 1974. The School was established on the basis of an agreement signed with the Polonia Society by the then Rector, Father Mieczyslaw Albert Krąpiec, and the Vice-Rector, Professor Stefan Sawicki. The perseverance of the university authorities resulted in the establishment of this kind of school at the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), despite the objections of the state authorities. It was one of the first centres in Poland where people of Polish origin could improve their language skills. As time went on, foreigners also began to take advantage of its programmes.