In April 3-5, 2003 Soros International House organized and held an international seminar
"MAKING THE TRANSITION: PREPARING FOR INTEGRATION INTO EUROPEAN UNION THROUGH LANGUAGES",
which aimed to celebrate the 10 th anniversary of establishment of SIH and the 50 years of activity of International House World Organization.

The topics of the seminar aimed to emphasize the important role of languages in the processes of globalization and European expansion.   The participants of the seminar were educators and language specialists from Great Britain, Slovenia, Norway, Hungary, Chech Republic, Estonia, Ukraine, Italy, Lithuania. The last day of the conference expanded into an event not only for registered participants from abroad, but also for local teachers and adult educators. The closing ceremony took place in a hotel "Naujasis Vilnius" and all the partyicipants of the seminar, SIH staff celebrated the anniversaries.

Phillip Marsdale, Director of International Language Services, Tallinn:
     "I must admit that almost 80% of international conferences and seminars are a waste of time. But not this seminar, as it was nearly 100% useful. I was astonished by the highly efficient organization as well. I can say that from my more than 10 years participation in such events."

Adam Schreck, Educational Director for Euro Examinations, IH Budapest:
      "I‘m originally from the United States, but for a long time I‘ve been living in Europe (Hungary). Until this conference I never thought that one could look at a language from so many different angles. I‘ve also discovered a number of areas in a language as a tool of communication between people of different cultures where problems can occur."

Petra Benešova, Account Manager - Head of Company Course, IH Prague:
"This event was my first international seminar. I‘d like to say that for me this conference is an example of what an international conference should be."

Uwe Anselm, SIH-MBA Center teacher:
"I took part in Geoffrey Mazullo workshop "Effective Business Communication in English" and understood what a benefit a good presentation can be. I acquired some useful knowledge as a business English language teacher."