Language Integration of Young Refugees into Cypriot and Greek Societies (Survive and Live)

The Challenge

Young refugees arriving in Cyprus and Greece face an urgent need to communicate in Greek, yet the available teaching materials and methods are almost entirely designed for learners who can already read and write. For the significant proportion of refugees who have low literacy or have had little formal education, this gap is a serious barrier. Without spoken language skills, they struggle to access services, find work, build relationships, and feel any sense of belonging in their new communities.

At the same time, teachers working with refugee learners often lack adequate tools, structured lesson plans, and specialized training for this specific group. Refugee classrooms are typically heterogeneous, with learners arriving and departing throughout a course, varying widely in background, language, and educational experience. Existing Greek language programs do not address these realities, leaving educators without the support they need to teach effectively.

What Survive and Live Sets Out to Do

Survive and Live is a small-scale cooperation partnership that supports the language integration of young refugees in Cyprus and Greece through a practical, oral communication approach. The project focuses on developing basic spoken Greek at the A1 level for daily survival communication, covering topics such as introducing oneself, shopping, using public services, and navigating everyday interactions. Crucially, the approach is designed for learners with no or low literacy, emphasizing listening and speaking rather than reading or writing.

Alongside supporting refugees directly, the project builds the capacity of Greek language teachers to work more effectively with this group. It introduces the co-teaching methodology, a collaborative approach in which two teachers work together in the same classroom, particularly well suited to the diverse and fluid nature of refugee learner groups.

Specific Objectives

• Develop spoken Greek language skills for 16 young refugees at A1 level, covering everyday communication needs within 35 teaching hours.
• Create an innovative oral communication methodology for Greek language instruction specifically designed for illiterate and low literacy learners.
• Train 10 teachers in the effective use of co-teaching in heterogeneous refugee classrooms.

Key Activities

• Needs assessment: Two online focus groups, one with refugees and one with teachers, to map learning needs, barriers, cultural challenges, and technology access, forming the foundation for all subsequent activities.
• Development of teaching materials: Production of a comprehensive set of student-facing materials focused on oral communication, including listening exercises, dialogues, role plays, quizzes, and visual vocabulary activities, organized by thematic units and adapted for mobile devices.
• Teacher training materials: Development of approximately 35 detailed lesson plans linked to the student materials, a methodological guide on co-teaching, and a platform user manual for both teachers and learners.
• Short teacher training: Six online training sessions for 10 teachers covering classroom methodology, the co-teaching approach, intercultural education, and digital platform use, including micro teaching exercises for practical application.
• Online learning platform: Digitization and upload of all materials onto a dedicated learning management system, optimized for mobile access, with an online learner community forum and ongoing technical and pedagogical support.
• Pilot training with refugees: Delivery of 35 hours of online Greek language lessons to two groups of 8 young refugees, testing and refining materials and methodology through observation, feedback, and assessment.
• Cultural and educational activities: A virtual museum visit linked to the shared refugee heritage of Cyprus and Greece, an online Cypriot cooking session, and a poetry recitation competition for refugee participants, with free lesson packages awarded as prizes.
• Dissemination: Three online events presenting results to NGOs, language teachers, and educational organizations, alongside digital outreach across partner channels, EPALE, the EU Youth Portal, and international Greek language networks.

Who Benefits

Survive and Live directly serves two groups. The first is young refugees aged 18 to 35 in Cyprus and Greece, particularly those who are illiterate or have limited formal education, who will gain practical spoken Greek skills for everyday life and employment through 35 hours of pilot lessons. The second is Greek language teachers and educators, who will receive structured training, detailed lesson plans, and an introduction to co-teaching methodology, improving their ability to work with diverse refugee learners.

Beyond direct participants, all produced materials will be made freely available online under open license, allowing NGOs, schools, language centers, and other organizations across Cyprus, Greece, and internationally to use them after the project ends. The platform will remain active for at least two years following the project’s completion.

Partners

• Private Institute C.F. Elite Tutors Ltd, Coordinator (Cyprus)
• Generation for Change CY (Cyprus)
• Iphigenia Centre for Hellenic Studies (Greece)

Project Details

Duration: January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026

Funding Program:

Survive and Live is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ program.