The Classroom as a Storytelling Space Where the Exotic Meets and Greets the Domestic

Abstract

Summary One of Poland's leading universities offers South African studies to Polish students of English. Here, Polish students learn about the South African reality first and foremost in cultural studies and Afrikaans-language acquisition classes. This is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. There are thousands of kilometres, in a literal and figurative sense, of almost completely unknown territory between Poland and South Africa. The distance, however, does not necessarily have to stand in the students' way to successfully and comprehensively study a subject many of them previously deemed to be essentially “exotic”. In order to assure a full understanding of a given culture, one should preferably immerse oneself in it, otherwise it will remain remote and exotic. This article illustrates how to, through experiential learning and teaching, practically bridge the gap between this “exoticism” and the “domestic”, well-known “Polishness” of the learners. This is done within the classroom that becomes the meeting point where two different countries and even more different cultures and languages meet.