Focus on the German Language

A roundtable gathered together the faculty, students, and representatives of the Robert Bosch Foundation and The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
from Austria and Germany at the BelSU Institute of Pedagogy’s Department of Foreign Languages. The discussed the status of the German languages in Russian
educational institutions. 

Michael Zebeck, a Robert Bosch Foundation lecturer, was among the participant of the discussion. He spoke on the German language, the number of its learners in Russia being bigger than in any other country. And regretfully this number is constantly decreasing although it has never completely fallen out of public interest. Elena Sherstyukova, the German Language Sub-department Chair, shared the opinion that at the core of this decline were the overwhelming globalization process, society’s internationalization and expansion of international ties with English as the dominant spoken language.  Besides, non-urban areas experience a shortage of qualified specialists, able to speak German fluently. According to her, after Russian schools introduced the German language as a second foreign language, the situation has changed for better.

«Today we know many circumstances that prove unquestionable benefits from learning German. They are, first of all, close contacts and a great number of programs run jointly with Germany. But the set to-date stereotypes make young people still choose English, » - said Elena Sherstyukova.

A teacher from the Institute of Pedagogy’s Department of Foreign Languages, Armin Musterleh, introduced the participants of the roundtable to a project of learning the German language at pre-school institutions and at schools. The German Language Sub-department staff took an active part in its elaboration and promotion; and the projects itself is growing in popularity in Belgorod.