Philology is gaining popularity among young people, because the knowledge of languages opens up a wide range of opportunities to be realised in the modern world. The admission campaigns of the past years have shown many applicants expressing their desire to become the students of the Faculty of Foreign Philology of Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University. That is why we decided to talk with the dean of the aforementioned faculty, Larysa Makaruk. We talked about the life of the structural unit and its representatives, the opportunities and advantages the students of the faculty have and more.
– The Faculty of Foreign Philology is a structural subdivision with history. What is the faculty life now, what is its composition?
– Today, the history of the Faculty of Foreign Philology spans the sixty-year life path of a successful individual, guided by the principles of quality, systematic development and self-improvement in work and therefore, has many collective and personal achievements. During this period, seven departments were formed at the faculty, the staff of which currently consists of 130 people. The lecturers of five departments: English Philology, Conversational English, Applied Linguistics, Romance Philology and German Philology work with the students at our faculty. And the teachers of the Department of Foreign Languages of Humanitarian Specialties and the Department of Foreign Languages of Natural and Mathematical Specialties work with the students of 15 faculties and 1 institute; and these are thousands of education seekers studying for Bachelor's and Master’s degrees. That is why the Faculty of Foreign Philology is an extremely important structural division of the university, whose team teaches the students of the whole university foreign languages.
Over 60 years, our faculty has trained several thousand graduates, including many foreign philologists, professional translators, teachers and lecturers of educational institutions of various levels and forms of ownership, and IT specialists. It is difficult to make this list exhaustive, because, first of all, advanced technologies evolve exponentially. Therefore, there is hardly any field where the knowledge of language is not a must. Today, on the contrary, anyone knowing several languages can ensure a decent life, an interesting job and endless possibilities in terms of professional development and leisure. Acquiring additional skills, regardless of the field of activity of the institution in which our specialists work, including soft skills, does not seem to be a big deal. This can be learned in a short period of time. It is much more difficult, outside the university, to perfectly master a foreign language, find time, opportunities and discipline yourself. That is why everyone who prefers to study at our faculty during four years lays solid foundations for successful professional development.
In this difficult year for our country, we trained a new generation of specialists who will have to rebuild the country. And that's as many as 144 bachelors! Speaking of this, I feel simultaneous joy and sorrow, because four years spent together is a part of every participant’s life in the educational process. Our graduates intend to continue their Master’s studies. And this makes us happy, because Master’s degree is not only an opportunity to learn something new, to get a good professional qualification, but also to secure a confident career growth, because often a Bachelor’s degree is not enough to get the desired position. And this creates a several-year barrier on the way to the dream.
– Recently, a multimedia educational and scientific laboratory of simultaneous translation was opened on the basis of the faculty. Do you still plan to update the material and technical base at the faculty, or can we expect more novelties?
– Yes, only a month has passed since we solemnly opened the laboratory that we had been waiting for and dreamed about for quite a long time. And, thanks to Anatolii Vasyliovych, we are witnesses and creators of real steps aimed at improving the educational process of our faculty, bringing it as close as possible to the necessary norms and standards. Soon we are planning to open another language laboratory. This is the second laboratory of this type at the faculty with professional equipment and necessary software. We also want to partially update the furniture. The Faculty of Foreign Philology is the largest structural unit, the specifics of which is the training of students in subgroups (10-15 people). Despite the fact that for 20 years we have been working in two shifts from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. during full-time education, we still need to increase the number of classrooms, in particular to equip new laboratories, conduct lectures and practical classes. It is important for us to continue implementing interesting ideas and successful projects. Therefore, I am convinced that these laboratories will be further developed. Time will tell how fast it might be, but we are used to achieving our goals, so we will gradually implement them on the peaceful and prosperous Ukrainian land, within Lesya’s University walls.
– Probably, the applicants are now most interested in the information about the specialty
– The motivation letter and NMT (National Multisubject Test) are the novelties of this application campaign. At the faculty, we have six educational programmes (hereinafter, EP): “Secondary Education. German Language”, “Secondary Education. English”, “Language and Literature (French). Translation”, “Language and Literature (German). Translation”, “Language and Literature (English). Translation”, “Applied Linguistics. Translation and Computational Linguistics”. This year, to obtain a Bachelor’s degree on educational and professional programmes “Language and Literature (French). Translation”, “Language and Literature (German). Translation”, “Language and Literature (English). Translation”, “Applied Linguistics. Translation and Computer Linguistics” for both state and paid forms of education, part-time and full-time, certificates of EIA (External Independent Assessment) 2019, 2020, 2021 or results of NMT 2022 and a letter of motivation are required. I should note that the study of the German and French languages on the educational programmes “Language and Literature (French). Translation” and “Language and Literature (German). “Translation” takes place from scratch. There is no need to be afraid to start learning a language if even our applicants have never dealt with them before admission. Learning a language from the A1 level takes place similarly on the EP “Secondary Education. German”.
Educational Bachelor’s programmes “Secondary Education. English Language”, “Secondary Education. German Language” is one of the few educational programmes of the philological cycle, admission to which for the contract form of study in 2022 is possible only on the basis of a motivation letter without the results of the previous years’ external examination and this year’s NMT. However, the state form requires the results of the external examination or NMT.
The educational programme “Secondary Education. English Language” can also be studied by college graduates (1 year and 10 months’ duration) who enter the state form of education on the basis of 2019, 2020, 2021 EIA certificates in Foreign Language and Mathematics, the results of the 2022 NMT and a letter of motivation, and for a paid form, the 2019, 2020, 2021 EIA certificates in the Ukrainian Language, Mathematics or History of Ukraine for or the results of the 2022 NMT and a letter of motivation.
The faculty offers full-time and part-time master’s studies. For the state form of education, it is necessary to pass a professional entrance test and submit a motivation letter. Only a letter of motivation should be prepared for a paid form of education. The Faculty of Foreign Philology also makes it possible to obtain a second higher education (on the basis of a previously obtained master's or specialist’s degree).
– Why do you advise the entering applicants to choose the faculty of foreign philology? What advantages and additional educational opportunities do your students have, in addition to the knowledge of the programme minimum?
I am convinced that choosing any of the six educational programmes is a win-win option for the applicants, as they will definitely be employed, have a high salary, be able to combine studies and work, so they will support themselves while living a students’ life. On the other hand, it is an opportunity to look at the world in a new way, but with your own eyes; get to know it and fully realise yourself, successfully fulfill your dreams and plans. Regardless of the educational programme chosen by our applicants, they will be able to simultaneously learn two or three foreign languages out of the six at the faculty (French, German, English, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese).
Thanks to the initiative of the Rector of the University, our faculty was one of the first to realise education with the elements of dual education. This practice turned out to be successful and demanded, and we continue to implement it at leading enterprises and educational institutions of various levels and forms of ownership (“Modern Expo”, “InternetDevels”, “Nestlé”, “Lingua House”, “Kromberg & Schubert”, and other companies) for our students to gain practical experience with the prospect of further employment. The students of our faculty also have the opportunity to participate in academic mobility programmes, providing free semester or year-long study at foreign partner universities in Germany, France, or Poland. It is very important that our applicants have the opportunity to work with foreign speakers, as well as practice pronunciation in a modern language laboratory and acquire professional simultaneous translation skills in the faculty's multimedia simultaneous translation laboratory with no-analogue in Volyn high-quality equipment. And we also have a rich student life, the diversity of which can be felt as soon as you become a part of our family.
Interviewed by Andrii PETRUSHKO
Photo by Dmytro BAIDA
