Students of Matej Bel University undergo internships at the European Foundation for Slavic Literacy and Culture. Sara Polivkova talks about her faculty and studying the Russian language.
The Faculty of Arts at Matej Bel University offers a wide range of study programmes that prepare students for careers in translation, interpreting, and pedagogy. One of departments that provide such specialisations is the Department of Slavic Languages.
At this department, students can choose from ten study programmes, four of which focus on translation and interpreting, while the remaining six are oriented towards teaching. All of these programmes are double major, meaning that in addition to Russian language, students must choose one more field of study to major in. For programmes focused on translation and interpreting, you can only choose Slovak, English, French or German languages as your second major. However, if you opt for a teaching degree, you might be surprised by the unusual combinations, such as Russian language and history or Russian language and physical education.
So, what can you look forward to in your Russian language studies? The bachelor’s programme is primarily theory-based. Students improve their Russian pronunciation, grammar, and, depending on their specialisation (translation and interpreting or teaching), the basics of translation studies and didactics. At master’s level, these theoretical skills are applied in practice. Translators and interpreters work with various agencies and interpret at events, while future teachers teach children in elementary and secondary schools. As such, our graduates have no trouble finding a job in their field.
Among other things, you can look forward to a variety of different activities at our department. While most of them are organized by our Polish language teacher, thanks to our classmate Angelina Dyrda, there are plenty of activities related to the Russian language as well. Last year, she started publishing a student magazine called STUDLIFE, which is available on our department’s website. Each issue focuses on a specific topic and includes articles in various Slavic languages. Anyone can contribute—not only with articles but also with drawings and photographs. In winter, she organized a Christmas party with an entertaining program and a tasting of Russian delicacies. There was a contest for the nicest sweater, we played a quiz, and even the head of the department, Dr. Lizoň, came to play the guitar for us. What's more, other teachers willingly participated in these activities.
To highlight the contributions of other departments, both the Department of English and American Studies and the Department of Philosophy organise various interesting events. Popular examples include the “Mudrovačky KAA” discussion series and “Evenings with Philosophy,” both of which offer an open platform for discussions on contemporary social, political, and philosophical topics.
If you would like to learn more about our department as well as our faculty, feel free to visit us during our Open Day. We believe you will have a great time.
Sara Polivkova,
Matej Bel University