The sudden shiftto these new forms of online communication was not a surprise to everyone. For example, the ShareAmi program was a huge success in helping British university students and French senior citizens beat the lockdownloneliness.
ShareAmi is basically a language exchangeprogram launched by a French non-profitcalled Oldyssey. The University of Warwick connected with ShareAmi to match British students learning French with conversation partners in France. The French conversation partners were older people, who would have been both at higher risk of getting COVID-19 and more likely to be experiencing loneliness and isolation.
So in this arrangement, young people get to develop their language skills, while older people get to stay connected with the world at large. And while Warwick is the only university in the United Kingdom that participates, it is part of a larger EUTOPIA program. The program connects a number of countries and communities throughout Europe, providing a way for people to get together online. That’s an amazing thing to manage during a global emergency.
