This year, more than a hundred students learned the Hungarian language in the courses of the Debrecen Summer School of the University of Debrecen and got to know the Hungarian culture again after a forced absence of two years. The students came to Debrecen from 35 countries, this year the majority were Poles.
A total of one hundred and eight people received certificates at this year’s Debrecen Summer University. The majority of the students passed the written and oral final exams with excellence.
This year, the group of students was also very colorful, with different motivations. Many people came from Polish universities, where they are majoring in Hungarian, and they chose Debrecen in order to improve their language skills,
– director Péter Szaffkó told hirek.unideb.hu.
There was a South Korean student who applied for the UD summer course in order to work for a Korean company in Hungary. A former American missionary couple who serve in the Baptist church in Debrecen are teachers in Lendva, whose knowledge of Hungarian is mandatory in bilingual schools.
There was a Serbian student whose great-grandfather was Hungarian, and family ties led him to Debrecen. The course also included a girl from London who was born in Australia and whose mother is Hungarian from Slovakia and a Dutch student who promised her Hungarian friends that she would learn Hungarian.
In addition to the lessons, the students could participate in language development, conversational, sports, and cultural programs. In addition to the language lectures, they could practice pronunciation in the phonetics class, expand their knowledge in the vocabulary development class, and improve their oral expression skills during the speaking exercises,
– added the head of the institution.
According to the organizers, the “extra” professional and leisure programs of the course were also very successful; in addition to the classic city tour, the students could take part in a night visit and a church tour, and they could also go by bike to the Zelemér church ruins. In the framework of the traditional folklore evenings, they were able to learn about the food, clothing, songs, and dances of each region.
In addition to language lessons and special language sessions, the students could, among other things, visit the castle on the trip to Zsáka, try archery, and decorate gingerbread figures. And those who wanted to do handicrafts could learn about beading and braiding. Those interested had the opportunity to visit the Jewish quarter of Debrecen twice in one month, and on both occasions, 20-25 students applied for the program,
– Péter Szaffkó added.
The “Modern Hungary” program of the Debrecen Summer School of the University of Debrecen also ended successfully, in the framework of which the students could listen to lectures on the history and culture of Debrecen for two weeks in English. Many of the participating students were also interested in the Hungarian language, so they joined the language students after the history course.
The language course was organized for the first time in 1927, so this year was the 95th Summer University of Debrecen. Summer university students of different cultures, ages, and motivations come to Debrecen from all over the world for the four-week course. The youngest student of this year’s Summer University was 15, and the oldest was 75.
hirek.unideb.hu
