“Our goal is to become a meeting place for both cultures”

“Speak that I may see you.” This simple rule was set by Socrates as far back as in the fifth century B.C. It is successfully implemented by modern European countries, which pay serious attention to spreading their culture and language abroad. For example, our neighbour, Poland, has created 22 culture institutes in various countries over some 20 plus years after it left the Soviet bloc. German Goethe-Institut was created in Ukraine three years after we gained independence. If anyone thinks that there is no relation between culture and economy, they are very wrong. According to the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs data, in 2011, Germany is Ukraine’s biggest economic partner in Europe. That is why it is no wonder that this year Goethe-Institut has created a special online curriculum of language course for those who cannot attend regular classes.

Petra KOEPPEL MEYER, deputy director, head of Goethe-Institut language department, told The Day about the new language curriculum, why the cultural cooperation is important, and whether Ukraine is interesting for Germans.

You have worked in Iran and Turkey before, and now you are working in Ukraine. Can you feel the interest from Ukrainians towards the German culture and language learning?

“Unfortunately, I have arrived here only recently, but it is noteworthy that Ukrainians possess some kind of traditional interest in the German language learning. Nowadays we are reaping the fruits of this interest. German has been, and still is highly valued at schools (though not as much as it was 10 years ago). Almost 85 percent of people attending our courses are aged 16 to 25 years old. First of all, these are university students, but the number of school students has been growing in the recent years as well.

“Those who learn a foreign language treat it as broadening their outlook, because knowing just one foreign language is often not enough. Besides, we have courses for teenagers, who often choose learning German as an extra curricular activity in addition to school lessons. Older people study at Goethe-Institut too, they need the language to work or move to Germany.”

Goethe-Institut has been functioning in Ukraine since 1994. What has changed in its operation during this time?

“We managed to build quite a wide net of German learning centers in Ukraine. These are the institutions that teach according to our methods. Support of German teachers at schools and universities is very important for us. Thanks to our constant work in this area, they have an ability to use professional development services, methodology literature centers in all regions of Ukraine, and attend Goethe-Institut language courses. Within the framework of the “Schools: Future Partners” project, initiated by Germany’s minister of foreign affairs in 2008, 15 Ukrainian schools were chosen on a competitive basis to receive intensive support of teaching German, additional advanced training for teachers, and improve material and technical resources. The best students of these schools have an opportunity to attend cources in Germany in summer and to get acquainted with the culture of the country closer.

“Also, we widely support the German minority in Ukraine. Naturally, cultural cooperation is of high priority as well. For example, the ‘New German Film’ festival is taking place in eight Ukrainian cities right now. But at the same time, we don’t want to remain isolated. We strive to communicate with our Ukrainian partners in a way that will strengthen our cooperation in all senses and will base it not only on promoting German culture, but also on equal exchange between Ukraine and Germany. We would not like to be considered just as an institution that represents Germany in Ukraine. Our goal is to become a meeting place for both cultures.”

Can you see the interest of Germans in learning Ukrainian culture?

“In modern Germany, unlike 15 years ago, there exists an interest in Ukraine. I have talked to a historian, German university professor, and she said that if there were no academic research programs concerning Ukraine before, now these programs are beginning to emerge. There are courses of the Ukrainian language and literature. We hope that European football championship that takes place next year will better promote Ukraine in Europe, and the connections between our countries will become broader.” [By the way, the contest “Bring a friend along to see the game” that was initiated by Goethe-Institut, was recently over. Eleven participants who were the first to give correct answers to the questions related to football, received two bags of hospitality each for the inauguration game between Ukraine and Germany at the Olympic National Sports Complex Ukraine-Germany. – Author].

You say that you would like the Goethe-Institut to become a meeting place. What would Ukraine have to do on its part to make these meetings more efficient, to increase Ukraine’s interest in Germany, and, correspondingly, not to lose interest in Germany here?

“It is important for us that Ukrai-nian organizations seek cooperation with us. I have talked about what has been done in the area of advanced university faculty training. Now the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine recognizes our efforts in advanced school teacher training. But there are other important aspects of our work. As a European country, Ukraine strives to implement West European recommendations concerning language education. And we hope that Goethe-Institut tests, which are based on these recommendations and have already acquired international recognition, will receive such recognition in Ukraine as well. It is also very important for us to work with the maximum output and offer interesting things. Then we will attract people.”