Where will the language lead?
Why do people learn a foreign language? The goals are usually as follows: acquiring a profession, moving to a permanent residence, studying or working abroad, studying literature and communicating with like-minded people. The East is a delicate matter. And first of all this concerns language. Therefore, if your task is to become a translator, you should choose a specialized university. The best language trio is the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Kyiv National Linguistic University, and the Kyiv Institute of Oriental Linguistics and Law.
True, it should be taken into account that you will have to gnaw the granite of foreign philological sciences for at least five years. However, a diploma from these universities is practically a guarantee of employment. In addition, thanks to established ties with the countries whose languages are studied, students have the opportunity to participate in various joint projects. For example, at the Institute of Oriental Linguistics, students who have a good command of English and Hindi get a chance to study in India for free. And at Shevchenko University, various language centers have been opened on the basis of specialized departments. Among the most interesting are the Chinese and Turkish centers, and Iranian studies. There you can find educational literature, magazines and newspapers, and get acquainted with the culture and customs of these peoples.
As a rule, groups for studying Eastern languages are small - 6-8 people. On the one hand, this is explained by the still insufficient demand for “exotics”, on the other hand, by the difficulties of learning. Currently, no “super-modern” methods such as the 25th frame have been developed for studying Eastern languages. And, as experts claim, thank God...
Look to the courses!
In order to enter a university, for example, in Japan or Turkey, knowledge of the language must be excellent - much better than that required for employment in those countries. Therefore, third-year students of the above-mentioned Ukrainian universities go to continue their studies in exotic countries. But one can quite well learn a language as an aid for work and business at courses.
“At our center, we have been running educational programs for studying Eastern languages for several years now,” say the staff of the LingvaPax training center. “The main problem is forming groups. We offer a basic one-year course of 50 lessons. Students study twice a week. As it seems to us, this is the optimal regime for Eastern languages. Daily lessons can cause excessive strain and, as a result, worse retention of the material. Imagine, for example, a daily Chinese ‘intensive’.
Among our students, the majority are linguistics students: very many choose one of the Eastern languages in addition to the basic ones studied at the university. Arabic is most often of interest to women who have married representatives of Arab countries and are about to follow to their husband’s homeland. Recently, interest in Modern Greek has unexpectedly grown. One of the explanations may be that the number of shopping tours to this country is increasing, and many want to master the language of business partners.”
“Business ties and work abroad are the reason for the fashion for Turkish and Arabic,” confirm specialists of the Sir Gee training center. “The absolute leaders in demand are Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic. The specifics of Eastern countries are such that, despite the ubiquity of business English, knowledge of the native language of your Eastern partner significantly increases the chances of concluding successful deals.”
And young people who speak English and Turkish are provided with jobs at the seaside resorts of Antalya. Even at the last tourist exhibition, several booths of Turkish companies displayed applications for hotel staff and animators. The Arab Emirates also, for many years now, have been recruiting those willing to work in the sphere of serving foreign tourists. Chinese firms, on the contrary, by successfully establishing business ties, open their representative offices in Ukraine.
Sometimes adherents of a certain trend in science or art begin to study an exotic language. For example, lovers of ikebana want to read specialized literature, and those carried away by Indian classical dance cannot comprehend its secrets without possessing at least the basics of Sanskrit. In any case, it is necessary to clearly define your goal - for what and in what volume of knowledge you need this language. According to the general opinion of specialists, a one-year training program is enough only to master the language at a conversational level. And then everyone chooses their own path: someone is satisfied with what has been achieved, someone goes further, resorting to the help of a private tutor or scouring the relevant websites and forums on the Internet.
Unlike English or German, where methods have been worked out for years, it is problematic to study Eastern languages independently. The most delicate point is teachers. It is difficult to find a good Arabist or Japanologist on your own, so it makes sense to turn to a training center with a solid reputation. The teachers of that same trio are still considered the best. Although in some educational institutions, for example, at the Japanese Center, classes are conducted by invited native speakers.
Specialists of the training center will recommend where and which dictionaries and textbooks to purchase. True, there is not such an abundance of educational literature as for the popular English and German languages, unfortunately.
A cold shower for hotheads
Perhaps, the main specificity of Eastern languages is that they imperceptibly subjugate your entire existence: the manner of communication, lifestyle, and sometimes philosophy and religion change. "If you are simply attracted by exoticism and fashion, it is better to immediately abandon this endeavor," believes Tatyana Khataeva, a translator of Japanese. "For example, the Japanese language is a whole world, and its study is a continuous life exam. Absolutely everything differs from what we are used to - from the phonetic system to the way of thinking. You need to be aware that the first two years of study involve a colossal workload.
"Moreover, Eastern languages, unfortunately, are still not sufficiently in demand in Ukraine. The real area of application of knowledge can be interpreting and tutoring. All this is to some extent unstable work. For two or three weeks you may have maximum daily workload (a delegation arrived, an international conference is taking place, etc.), and then - complete calm for two or three months. A staff translator in Japanese companies operating in Ukraine is practically not needed: all Japanese employees are fluent in English, and communication with Ukrainian staff is conducted in it. And Japanese remains for "internal" discussion of issues that are not brought up for general discussion. Approximately the same is the case with other exotic languages."
So what then, to learn or not? The answer was given by the ancient Greeks, who claimed that as many languages as you know, that many times you can call yourself a human.