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The Debrecen Summer University began with almost 100 students from more than 30 countries attending the course, the institution’s director announced at a press conference ahead of the official opening.
According to the university’s press release, Péter Szaffkó said that after the pandemic, the Debrecen Summer University is organising its second course this summer, and participants can come for the full duration of the four-week course or for the first or second two weeks. He said the youngest student is fifteen, the oldest is eighty-six this year, and all continents are represented in Hungarian classes.
He added that this year, the proportion of applicants living in Debrecen or in other regions of Hungary is higher than in the past. They probably want to take advantage of the fact that they are here anyway. “This year, more people speak Hungarian well or very well, which is a novelty, as beginners are usually the most numerous. The institution is constantly trying to build new relationships, so this year, one Mexican and one Indian teacher will receive scholarships to study in Debrecen,” Péter Szaffkó said. He pointed out that the Tuesday evening programme, the folklore evening, which has been a great success for years, has been retained, where students hear and see folk songs and dances and learn them week by week, learning about different regions.
In memory of Petőfi, the institution has announced the Night of Poems. On the 28th of July, students can quiz on Hungarian poems, listen to and learn poems set to music by Dominik Gyarmati, a young poet and composer, a student at the University of Debrecen, and perform Petőfi’s poems translated into their own mother tongue, the director said.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
