Center for Francophone Education and Culture: French Year Ends and Language Study Continues

 The Year of French has passed in Ukraine. At our university it marked the creation of the Center for Francophone Education and Culture, on the basis of which a number of interesting events have already taken place.

In order to summarize and officially close the Year of French Language at the NULES of Ukraine, on September 11, 2019, an international seminar "Contemporary Intercultural Communication in the Light of Francophone: Challenges and Opportunities" was held at the Faculty for Humanities and Pedagogics with the participation of Odile Rember, instructor of the College Royal Holloway of the University of London..

The topic of the seminar was of interest to both teachers and students. The Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Pedagogics, Ihor Mykhailovych Butsyk, addressed the participants of the seminar. Ms. Rember urged the student audience to learn foreign languages, not to be afraid of difficulties, to be open to intercultural communication, because we live in a globalized world. When learning a foreign language, one not only creates a foundation for a professional career, but also develops oneself. An example would be her own life and professional career – French in origin, she works at the University of London.

The questions of the students present in the audience concerned many aspects of intercultural communication – from the peculiarities of the mentality and linguistic personality of representatives of different languages and cultures to Ms. Rember's own experience in learning foreign languages. By the way, both questions and speech exchanges were expressed in different languages - French, English, Ukrainian – which created a relaxed atmosphere. And everything was clear to everyone!

For their part, students, led by the senior teacher of the Department of Foreign Philology and Translation, Natalia Rudnytska, remembered how much eventful was the Year of French Language: the opening of the Center, a job fair, a meeting with the Ambassador of France, interesting excursions, winning a competition. In confirmation, they showed a video created as part of the project "I I'm also studying French!"
Finally, the workshop participants decided: The Year of French language is coming to an end, but the study of French does not stop!

Svitlana Amelina,
Head of the Department of Foreign Philology and Translation