On 22 October, together with the community of Vilnius Karoliniškės Gymnasium, specialists from the Centre for Scandinavian Studies at the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University, and project partners from Kristiansand, we organised the Nordic Language Day “Speak Nordic: Mission North”. The event brought together more than 60 young people.
The event began with presentations prepared by the students in advance. They brought various objects and artefacts that they associated with Norway and explained their choices. This introductory activity allowed the participants to share their existing knowledge, impressions, and associations related to the country.
The students then received “Nordic Passports” in different colours, formed groups, and moved between three activity stations. At the “Nordic Survival Kit” station, they used the provided Norwegian words to create and act out short dialogues. At the “Fact or Nordic Myth?” station, they listened to statements about Norway , decided which of them were true, and explained their choices. At the “Without Words” station, they used gestures, drawings, or “living pictures” to represent words and cultural phenomena related to the two countries, while the other teams tried to guess what they were portraying.
Before the event, the students had also prepared questions about the lives of young people in Norway. These questions were sent to the project partners in Norway and were commented on during the event by Hilde, a teacher from Aftenskolen, who joined the participants online. The students were therefore able not only to hear responses to the questions that interested them but also to communicate directly with a project partner from Norway.
Students actively participated in the group activities and watched and commented on the other teams’ performances. At the end of the event, they wrote a word or a short phrase on the back of their “Nordic Passports” to describe an impression or discovery they were taking away from the event.
We sincerely thank Audronė Būdienė, Deputy Head of Vilnius Karoliniškės Gymnasium, the student Radvilas, and Agnė Petrauskaitė, a lecturer at the Centre for Scandinavian Studies of the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University, for their contribution to organising the event. We also thank all the participants for their curiosity, active involvement, and interest in discovering Nordic languages and cultures.
We are delighted that our joint efforts made it possible to create a lively and engaging introduction to the Norwegian language and culture.
