A group of 9 students from the faculty of philosophy travel to Ghana from the 7th to the 21st of December. The students from Bachelor and Master programs, mostly for teaching but also from linguistic programs are accompanied by Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Wolf. The trip is part of an English linguistics course and gives the students the opportunity to experience Ghana’s culture, language varieties and meeting it´s people personally.
Therefore, the expedition leads through many parts of Ghana: among other things, visits at the „University of Ghana“ in the capital Accra, d „University of Education“ in Winneba and the „Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology“ in Kumasi, are planned. Besides an exchange of knowledge with Ghanaian students and professors, the students will amplify their individual research projects. During the trip the students will keep record of their experiences and results in an online diary which is published on the following website: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/de/up-entdecken/upaktuell/up-unterwegs-reisetagebuecher.
“Linguistics does not only mean to speak a language but also to learn about the language. It´s specific structure, use and development in certain areas”, says Marissa Kilian, who studies English and German in the masters teachers program and will take part in the trip to Ghana. “What would be more fitting than traveling to a country where the languages are various, but English is one of the official spoken languages. As learners of languages and potential teachers it is our pleasure and job to learn and provide students with the varieties of the English language.”
Apart from the visits at several universities the group will also travel to Elmina where they will visit the testimonials of colonial history and the center of traditional Ashanti culture and architecture. “I hope we will discover different cultural, social, and historical parts of the country and will be able to meet and talk to various interesting people” states Marissa Kilian.
