Each year more and more foreign students and professors visit Lithuania specifically in order to participate in the summer courses of Lithuanian language and culture. This confirms the rising interest in our country. The summer courses of Lithuanian language and culture are organized by Lithuanian universities. The participation of foreigners is financed by the State Scholarship Program, which is administered by the Education Exchanges Support Foundation. 186 foreign citizens applied this year and scholarships were awarded to 133 individuals. 

 

The courses are usually organized during the period of July and August in five different universities – Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, Vilnius University, Vytautas Magnus University, Klaipeda University, and LCC International University. 

 

Among the arrivals there are different levels of students and teachers, however the largest part of the approved participants consists of undergraduate students (61 percent).

 

The participants‘ study and research areas also vary. Perhaps the biggest part of the approved participants consists of Baltic studies, foreign languages and international relations studies or scientific fields’ representatives. Countries from which participants come vary as well. Most of the participants come from China, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Poland (almost 67 percent of all arrivals).

 

Diana Makevičienė, the coordinator of the summer courses at Vilnius University is happy with the incoming participants and their willingness to learn the Lithuanian language: „The number of people interested in Lithuania is growing each year, along with their desire to learn the Lithuanian language and to get acquainted with our country’s culture. Foreign students are usually happy to share the stories and experiences on how they are doing learning Lithuanian language, how much they find out about our country not only in classrooms, but also during the different cultural trips. Some students participate in the courses more than once. It‘s good to see them fall in love with our language and culture and it is great when they promise to come back. The loveliest words I have ever heard are „O aš jau mokų kalbėti lietuviškai“ („I already speak Lithuanian“).

Jūratė Derukaitė, the manager of Language and Social Education Centre and the coordinator of summer language and culture courses at Klaipeda University expresses her satisfaction with the fact that each year more and more participants already speak Lithuanian, and that for the third of participants it is not the first time at the university. „We, the organizers, live in this „rhythm“ for the whole month. Not only we spend time with our participants during classes and events, but we also invite them over to our homes. Our family members also get involved. Once the courses end, we miss everyone for a while, then start anticipating for the next batch of foreigners“.

The summer courses of Lithuanian language and culture are taking place during these dates:

Vytautas Magnus University	July 17 – August 13, 2016
Vilnius University	July 3 – 30, 2016
Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences	August 1 – 28, 2016
Klaipėda University	July 22 – August 18, 2016
LCC International University	July 31 – August 27, 2016

 

Well, but the most important thing is the results, right? To hear the students speak – take a look at this short video: