Celebration of 25th anniversary
of Slovenian language teaching in Victoria 1977- 2002
The
preparations for our anniversary celebration are continuing
on a grand scale. The celebration will be held on 22.
March 2003 in Melbourne at the SS Cyril and Methodius
Hall, the Slovenian Religious and Cultural Centre.
The
Minister for Education of Slovenia, Dr. Lucija Cok has
accepted our invitation to attend, which is greatly
appreciated by the community. We
have other important landmarks and achievements to celebrate.
The
year 2003 will have marked the 5 th year since the concept
of the ISSV project, the web site www.thezaurus.com
was first envisaged.
Slovenian
Media House is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Glas
Slovenije in 2003 and the 5 th anniversary
of the web site Sticisce avstralskih Slovencev – www.glasslovenije.com
.
The
Conference in Melbourne: Slovenian Language and Culture:
the Future and the "Lost Generation".
The
Institute for Slovenian Studies of Victoria is preparing
a conference on 23 March 2003, that is intended to look
back over this first so-called immigrant period of Slovenian
presence in Australia, with its clearly defined social
phenomena, review, take stock and look to the future.
We
would like to engage Slovenia’s interest and build bridges
between Australia and Slovenia for the following generations
of our descendants.
Careerlinx
- Slovenian Connection online
 We
are pleased to announce that Careerlinx/Slovenian Connection
has finally made its appearance on the web. Initially
sponsored by the Department of Education, Employment
and Training of Victoria, and later supported by the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Republic of Slovenia,
it is aimed at the young coming through the secondary
system and selecting language as a VCE subject. The
webpage is to stimulate interest in language study and
is intended to persuade the secondary students to select
one of the languages as an elective subject.
Our
task was to present arguments to support the case that
the study of Slovenian language would be of benefit
in further studies and the future career. The web page
contains information about the country, the people and
the language. A group of young people present the view
that studying Slovenian has benefited them. They are
all university graduates, they have interesting and
fulfilling jobs and they have studied Slovenian to Victorian
Certificate of Education level (“matura”). In their
experience Slovenian language has been an advantage
- in further studies, in the chosen profession, in dealing
with people with different language backgrounds.
The
interactive, accessible and open section of Careerlinx/Slovenian
Connection, Thezaurus
Forums – Slovenian Online Community has been
online over two months. A global readership is now provided
with the access to a number of Forums, and an opportunity
to open new Forums for connecting, informing or being
informed. The registered user can enter interesting
and useful LINKS
and make use of the links already published, for connecting
with Slovenia.
Connect
on the new Forums
The new Thezaurus Forums are shaping up well with the
body of information and interest shown by readers. The
interactive, accessible and open section of Careerlinx/Slovenian
Connection,
Thezaurus
Forums - Slovenian Online Community has been online
over two months. A global readership has access to a
number of Forums, and an opportunity to open new Forums
for connecting, informing or being informed. The registered
user can enter interesting and useful LINKS
and make use of the links already published, for connecting
with Slovenia
Slovenian
Webclassroom
Three
Webclassroom
units have been published: Slovenia
, Slovenia in Images and
Health. Webclassroom has now 15 units
, centred on a theme and based predominantly
on resources available on the web. The suggested tasks
are there to give definition, direction and purpose
to reading, but also to provide a guideline towards
a creative and realistic language use reading towards
a specific task. They are also very useful simply as
guided reading resources, that can be studied intensively
or lightly skimmed through according to user’s needs.
Archivist
Aleksij Kalc, Science and Research Centre
of the Republic of Slovenia, Koper
Aleksej
Kalc visited us in November and spent about one week
in Melbourne together with Florjan Auser who did the
recording and the filming for audio- and video-archives.
He visited the existing archives and held sessions on
collecting, maintaining and recording materials. He
visited the Institute for Slovenian Studies of Victoria
and viewed the extensive ISSV collection. It was agreed
to send him a report of the size and content for the
inclusion in his own report to Dr.Zigon, the initiator
of the project: archival heritage of Slovenian emigrants
in Australia. Mr. Kalc also viewed archives maintained
by Mrs. Milena Brgoc, the President of Slovenian Association
Melbourne and the Baraga House Archives.
Sydney
Slovenes were visited by Dr. Breda Cebulj-Sajko, Science
and Research Centre of the Republic of Slovenia, Ljubljana.
A new initiative:
the first Australian student is spending
two months in the Slovenian secondary school in Vipava
Slovenia
has in the past provided scholarships to post-secondary
students – learning Slovenian language in a variety
of courses for various lengths of time (3 weeks, 1 month,
3 months, 1 year)
ISSV
explored the possibilities of sending students of Slovenian
at the Victorian School of Languages to a Slovenian
school for a period of time, studying Slovenian intensively,
and also undertaking other subjects and activities at
the Diocesan Gymnasium in Vipava. Andrew Bratina,
the first student sent to Slovenia under this scheme,
is finding the experience exciting, enjoyable and demanding.
The school has prepared a special program tailored to
develop his language competencies and to satisfy the
requirements of the VCE course. His stay in Slovenia
will prepare him for his final Year 12 and “matura”
in Slovenian language.
Another
three secondary students enrolled for Slovenian in the
Victorian School of Languages have also been accepted
and will spend two months in the Diocesan Classical
Gymnasium in Ljubljana. The first stage of their program
is to establish links via Email between the Australian
and Slovenian students, so that the students will have
already made friends when they arrive in autumn next
year.
As
far as we know it is the first time this has been tried
between Australian and Slovenian schools. The school’s
progressive principal Joze Mlakar had spoken about developing
such scheme with Aleksandra Ceferin in 1999. When approached
about realizing the concept with a suitable group of
students in the year 2003, there was an immediate response
and the project was on the way.
We
have the greatest expectations of success. Students
will be offered ideal conditions for learning Slovenian:
an intensive program of study, an opportunity to interact
with a peer group and immersion into the Slovenian environment.
Oz
Christmas Festival 2002 in Melbourne
It
is presented by the City of Melbourne and takes
place at the Queen Victoria Market. It is described
as “the feast of colour, movement, sound and international
flavour.” This multicultural event, provided by
the senior citizens of Victoria, has become a
tradition. Slovenian community has participated
for the past 20 years. Helena and Ivo Leber, the
well-known personalities of the Melbourne Slovenian
scene, have organized the event. Slovenian folk
costumes, the polka rhythms, dancing and singing
have always been a great hit.
The
Slovenian National Council of Victoria supports
the event. This year the singer was Evelyn Kojc,
who performs in the band “Plave noci”. Lenti Lenko
accompanied her on the accordion.
At
the annual event they also show Slovenian lace-makers
at work and a collection of lace-work. The lace
of Idria and its production is a rarity on the
fifth continent also, and the stall draws an interested
crowd.
Slovenes
have twice won the award for the best performance
and the best stall.
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Here Stefan Merzel is giving an interview for
the SBS
(Special Broadcasting Services),
speaking about Slovenia and its traditions.
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