The project is led by Dr Klaudia Jeznach from the Department of Polish Language and Literature Teaching at the University of Lodz. The activities will be carried out in cooperation with the University of Zurich, and their beneficiaries will include students of Polish community schools, members of Polish diaspora communities, university students, teachers and all those interested in the Polish language and the culture of our country.
“Pociąg do języka polskiego. Polsko-szwajcarskie podróże literackie” is a project that invites participants on a unique journey through language, literature, culture and places connected with Poland and Switzerland. Our activities are inspired by the Swiss literary festival „Przystanek Literatura” [Literature Stop], whose concept of travelling through places, texts and cultural experiences became the starting point for creating our own Polish-Swiss route promoting the Polish language*
– explains Dr Klaudia Jeznach.
An innovative and multidimensional approach to teaching and learning is one of the main assumptions of the initiative.
We want to demonstrate that language learning can simultaneously be an encounter with literature, culture, history and other people. That is why we have prepared eleven ‘literary stops’ in the form of podcasts and video materials, online lectures, language and cultural workshops, the competition “Fotografie narracyjne: polski – język historii i wyobraźni”[Narrative Photography: Polish, the Language of History and Imagination], as well as meetings with Polish diaspora communities. Participants will also have the opportunity to take part in escape rooms, literary collage activities and the board game “POLONOPOLIS. HELVETICA. Kulturowa podróż po Szwajcarii”[POLONOPOLIS. HELVETICA. A Cultural Journey through Switzerland].”
An interactive Polish-Swiss map enabling users to discover places, events and individuals connected with relations between the two countrie will consititute a particularly important outcome of the project. Enriched with multimedia materials, quizzes, crosswords and exercises using new media, it will become not only a component of the project but also a lasting, publicly accessible resource supporting the learning of the Polish language and the exploration of Polish culture
– emphasises the project leader.
The University of Lodz project team consists of Dr Klaudia Jeznach, dr hab. Agnieszka Wierzbicka, Associate Professor at the University of Lodz, Dr Agnieszka Kowalkiewicz-Kulesza, Dr Anna Sokół-Klein and Dr Karolina Kołodziej. The Swiss coordinator of the project is mgr Karolina Fastyn, a linguist, specialist in language teaching and lecturer in Polish at the University of Zurich and the University of Konstanz. The project will also involve staff members of the Faculty of Philology’s Promotion and Communication Office at the University of Lodz: Bartosz Burski and Eryk Woźniak.
"Pociąg do języka polskiego” project will combine education, literature, new media and artistic activities, creating a space for discovering the Polish language and Polish culture in an international Polish-Swiss context.
The project will begin on 1 December 2026 and will run for 12 months.
