A conference was held today at the Balassi Institute in Budapest on the experiences of teaching Hungarian language and culture. Speeches were also made at the event by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Public Administration and Justice Tibor Navracsics and Minister of State for Social Relations Zoltán Kovács.
Providing support for the education of Hungarian studies at universities abroad is a key area of operation in the international activities of the Balassi Institute. The Institute sends native language teachers and guest professors from Hungary to more than thirty universities abroad who provide courses for almost 1,500 students world-wide every semester. As part of their responsibilities, in addition to class-room teaching, guest teachers are also required to join research projects, to promote the establishment of relations with Hungarian higher education institutions, to facilitate study trips to Hungary for students and to actively participate in the popularisation of Hungarian culture and the organisation of local cultural programmes. The network of native language teachers has proven to be an old and tested resource in cultural diplomacy and plays an important role in maintaining high quality in the education of Hungarian studies and research as well as in supporting the communication network of educational institutions in Hungary.
In his welcome speech, Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics stressed that the Hungarian nation cannot exist in isolation, on its own, in the middle of Europe. It is the activities of guest professors and native language teachers that allow people abroad to better understand Hungary. Hungarology, the discipline of Hungarian studies, plays an enormous role in this. At the same time, it is equally important that „they should understand us”, but not only in a language sense. We must cover every facet of Hungarian life, everything that is Hungarian, and must popularise the achievements of the Hungarian nation abroad, the Minister said. The Minister believes that the discipline of Hungarian studies should be extended so that even those who do not speak Hungarian may understand and appreciate Hungary’s history and contemporary events.
Minister of State Zoltán Kovács shared his belief that we must talk about what makes us not only Hungarian but also Central-European. He said that the Government is planning to introduce thematic years which create the opportunity for Hungary to present itself to the world year after year. He told his audience that the Government decided on the establishment of a Hungarian institute in Belgrade at its meeting last week, and the preparations for the establishment of cultural institutes in Zagreb and Kolozsvár, too, are at an advanced stage. The Minister of State believes it is important that Hungarian culture should not only be present in Europe but also in other parts of the world, including the Middle-East and the South-East Asia region.
Gergely Prőhle, Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, 2013 will be the year of Central Europe; Hungary will preside over the Central European Initiative which also covers Hungarology, the discipline of Hungarian studies. He reiterated that Hungary will take over the Presidency of the Visegrád Four as of next summer, and then said a few words about the Hungarian-Italian cultural season beginning on 1 January 2013.
(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)
