In 2016, Famakan had to leave his country, Mali, while he was studying Modern Languages. He suddenly had to put his dreams on hold. But he arrived in Italy with a heart full of hope and clear projects in mind…
We. Travellers. Homesick. Adventurers. Curious. When travelling, we change the way we look at both ourselves and everyone around us. According to Pirandello, Italy’s famous writer, people have “one, no one, and one hundred thousand” identities. When travelling, Cinzia feels she is “one hundred thousand”. And you, how do you feel?
Everything starts with an ambition. An ambition that has a noble-minded purpose: make a positive change; create something meaningful for the society. That’s why you decided to start a business that is more impact driven than profit-oriented and make your contribution in solving one of today’s main global challenges (…) Once you are able to turn your ambition into an expressed reality, the next step of your success is determined by how many people you are able to reach with your solution.
There are many reasons why people decide to leave their country; however, we all search for a better future. I am one of the 12,000 foreigners living in Aveiro and one of the 250 million migrants in the world today.
Imagine that you crossed paths with SPEAK. You liked the idea, connecting newcomers & locals living in the same city inspires you for many different reasons. You want your city to accept, value and empower cultural diversity but you are a doer and you don’t stand for “hope”. Guess what, now you can. We just launched a new program – Take SPEAK to your city! -. You can now create your SPEAK.
What it is that makes this city so distinct? Is it the crazily unparalleled nightlife? Is it the cosmopolitanism? Could it be the representation of numerous cultures, languages and backgrounds? Or is it the various authentic cuisines that make me forget I am in just one city? I still remain stupefied yet pleasantly in awe.
Criei empatia com a questão dos refugiados desde que começou a ser debatida de forma fervorosa em Portugal, tanto nos media, como nas redes sociais. Sempre foi minha intenção fazer algo prático que ajudasse na resolução, em vez de ser mais um a desgastar-se nos constantes debates teóricos sobre o tema, no facebook.
SPEAK has given me the chance to collaborate and learn from kind people who have shared their ways, their experiences, their awesome food, and their passion for understanding other’s culture.
Lena lives in Madrid, she loves to learn languages but she is not a big fan of language schools. How to solve this issue? She experimented a new concept of learning languages from Portugal!
In Berlin, we speak the Berlin language. As a student, a migrant, and a curious explorer this was my first lesson stepping in the city; in Berlin, we speak the Berlin language—we learn it, we share it, and we add to it. If it doesn’t shift us, if we don’t shift it, we must be doing something wrong.