EMERGE – Language and Cultural Learning Offerings

A language tandem is a form of collaborative language learning: two people with different native languages (or languages they speak fluently) meet regularly to support one another in learning their respective target languages. The tandem partners alternate between their own language and their partner's language, offering assistance, minor corrections, and cultural insights – all in a relaxed, conversation-oriented environment.

Benefits of a language tandem:

• Authentic communication beyond the textbook
• Cultural exchange
• Faster overcoming of speaking anxiety through an informal environment
• Learning at your own pace

Brief overview:

• Duration: 8 weeks, once or twice a year
• Time commitment: approx. 4–5 hours per week

Schedule:

• Weekly tandem meetings (organised by participants themselves)
• Three additional tutor-led meetings 

These courses are aimed at staff at EMERGE partner universities who come into contact with EMERGE and wish to improve their English skills in areas relevant to their work.

The course content will be passed on to the English language teachers at each partner institution so that the offering can be continued in the long term – adapted locally where needed.

Brief overview:

• Duration per module: 8 weeks
• Time commitment: 2 teaching units per week
• Module 1: Professional English (from B1) (16 February 2026 – 10 April 2026)
• Module 2: English as Medium of Instruction for Lecturers (from B2) (2027, dates to follow)
• Module 3: English for Researchers (from B2) (2028, dates to follow)

EMERGE is planning taster courses in the national, regional, and heritage languages of the Alliance. The full list of languages on offer is currently still being developed. The aim is to provide courses in a total of 20 languages.

The training sessions draw on the extensive expertise of partner institutions in Norway and Ireland, with a focus on topics such as Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) and intercultural communicative competence.

CRT is a pedagogical approach that takes into account the cultural backgrounds, individual experiences, diverse learning styles, and power and inequality dynamics of learners.

The offering provides compact, practice-oriented guidance for:

• Lecturers
• Language teachers
• Trainee teachers in language subjects
• Researchers and doctoral researchers

… who are seeking support in navigating multilingual contexts with greater confidence and flexibility, whether in teaching, language learning, or research.

Students spend two weeks at an EMERGE partner university to gain knowledge of the relevant language, its teaching, and the region in a real-world context. The stays take place according to subject: English at the University of Limerick, French at the Université Rennes 2, Spanish at the Universidade da Coruña, and German at Europa-Universität Flensburg.