These students are reconnecting to their culture. Their grandparents came from Poland and, as with most immigrants then, did not teach the language or history to their children. DP
Polish pronunciation difficulties don't stop Columbia Heights residents from connecting with their old-world heritage.
By Lora Pabst, Star Tribune
startribune.com: Over the crackle of an old cassette tape, 10 students read along to a Polish skit in the basement of the Columbia Heights library last week.
They gather twice a month, not to perfect their Polish grammar but to share stories about their Polish grandparents or their own visits to their relatives' homeland.
In an area of the metro where many Polish and Eastern European immigrants congregated in the early 1900s, residents are still trying to maintain the basics of their culture and language.
Karen Karkula of Columbia Heights has been coming to the Polish classes for three years, ever since she went to Poland in 2003. Her grandpa immigrated from Poland, moved to Columbia Heights and built houses in northeast Minneapolis. But he never taught her Polish, beyond singing Polish Christmas carols and funeral songs.
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