Supporting the development of cultural competence in the Brazilian Polish community

Abstract

The article joins the discussion on the ways of shaping cultural competence in teaching and learning Polish as a foreign language. The pretext for the considerations is the implementation of the project "Polish language beyond borders" financed by the National Agency for Academic Exchange. The activities undertaken were aimed at strengthening the Polish community in Brazil, maintaining Polishness in the world, and increasing the level of knowledge of the Polish language and Polish culture (old and contemporary). The designed activities were built around the idea of popularizing Poland by presenting Lublin and the Lublin region as a region gathering "cultural elements of Polishness”. An additional challenge for the implementation of the title project was the outbreak of the pandemic, which resulted in the transfer of all activities to the virtual space. The article discusses the implemented activities, their attractiveness and effectiveness. The observations made are the basis for the formulation of general conclusions and postulates regarding the possibility of remote education of cultural competences as part of learning Polish as a foreign and inherited language.