How UzhNU students deepened their knowledge of English... in Cyprus

23.08.2023

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How UzhNU students deepened their knowledge of English... in Cyprus

Warm waves of the Mediterranean Sea, visits to the world-famous sights, getting to know new places in combination with hours of English language practice - this is how 18 female students from Uzhhorod National University will remember their summer vacation 2023. As part of the international cooperation between UzhNU and its British partner, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), the Second English Language Summer School was held at UCLan Cyprus.

The selection of students was strict - the best representatives from each faculty, who had been diligent throughout the academic year, were given the opportunity to join the two-week intensive English language course. Academic success and the level of English language proficiency at least B1 were taken into consideration. UCLan provided the students with housing, meals, all necessary study materials, and also took care of travel expenses. Moreover, an entertainment programme was organized for the girls during their free time from studying. The streets and historical sights of Larnaca, Limassol, Paphos, Petra-to-Romiou, the birthplace of Aphrodite, the ancient city of Kourion, and the beaches of Ayia Napa will remain in their memory for a lifetime.

The students were accompanied by the deputy dean for research and international relations of the Faculty of Social Sciences, associate professor Viktoria Svyshcho:

“Every day was very busy - breakfast at 8 o'clock, the beginning of classes at 9 o'clock. We had a total of three classes every day, and then some free time to go to the beach or sightseeing. Our teacher was Turan Dehirmencioglu, an alumnus of Cambridge University, who was very pleasant and comfortable to work with. He used various platforms for teaching. Mr. Turan was really focused on getting the girls to learn as much new material as possible and got them interested in working in small groups. The teaching methods applied by him included not only working with textbooks, but also cognitive interactive methods such as games, projects, discussions, etc. Much attention was paid to communication. During their studies, UzhNU students did much more than just listening and recording the teacher's thoughts. They produced information independently, identified and discussed problems, found ways to solve them, observed and planned, and all this was done in English. For me, as a teacher, this experience was very interesting. It is also important that the girls always tried to communicate with each other in English - during excursions and meals, i.e. not only in the classroom.”

Students who were lucky enough to attend language courses also share their unforgettable experiences.

Kateryna Lyashenko, a 4th-year undergraduate student of the Faculty of History and International Relations, a specialist of the International Relations Department of UzhNU:

“When you plan a trip, first of all you worry about accommodation and food. In fact, I was very surprised by the quality and convenience of the halls of residence and the canteen. They looked more like hotel suites and dining rooms from British films, all superb! The campus was large and had enough places for having a rest, a swimming pool, volleyball nets, balls for various games, table tennis, etc.

The next thing is the programme. Every day was filled with various activities. Even the study time was full of interactive, creative tasks in teams or pairs, we created our own projects, played educational games on different platforms. As for the time after classes, we didn't have a chance to get bored here either – they organized excursions to various famous tourist destinations for us on a daily basis.

The students proved to be incredibly knowledgeable in their fields and made even the breaks between classes incredibly interesting and informative. As you know, the girls were selected based on the best results in everything: studies, knowledge of English, participation in the activities of their faculties, university, student organizations, etc. Each of them turned out to be educated, positive, persistent, skilled and knowledgeable in various fields, so we all easily found a common language and spent two weeks in incredibly exciting and motivating atmosphere.”

Sofia Koval, a 2nd year student of the Faculty of Mathematics and Digital Technologies:

“After a long period of studyng mostly online, this trip was a great opportunity to study in the classroom, communicate with other participants live and work in teams. Our teacher was full of crazy energy and the 40 hours passed by incredibly quickly. The curriculum of the two-week course covered relevant topics, and each lesson was conducted with the use of modern methods of non-formal education. I enjoyed planning my free time on my own, traveling, getting to know the culture of Cyprus, which was new to me, and, of course, being able to communicate freely in English with others. I am sincerely glad that I was able to participate in these training courses. I certainly need to pay more attention to my English. It is difficult to imagine a student who would not encounter the use of foreign languages in everyday life. I am grateful to everyone who organized and participated directly in the course. Together with the girls, I expanded my horizons, learned a lot of new things and gained valuable experience. Join educational programmes, learn new skills and be open to new things!”

Erika Stanko, a 4th-year student of the Faculty of Health and Physical Education:

”The language course held at UCLan Cyprus was made up of interactive classes which included the blocks of academic writing, reading, listening, and speaking. During the two weeks of intensive lessons, we had the opportunity to replenish our vocabulary, improve our grammar skills and develop communication skills in the following modules "Business", "Society", "Trends", and "Success". Classes were conducted with the use of digital technologies - demonstration of visual photo and video material, development of individual projects in graphic design programmes and the use of games for effective repetition of learned material. Upon completion of the educational programme, all students were awarded certificates of successful completion of B1 academic English language courses, which were a pleasant bonus to our stay in Cyprus.”

Oleksandra Onysko, a 3rd year student of the Faculty of Dentistry:

“These 2 weeks flew by quite quickly, but they were extremely busy. We improved our English every day, and we are grateful for it to our teacher Turan, who became a true friend of ours, because his teaching methods were innovative, interesting and diverse every time. The emphasis was put on spoken English, so everyone had to communicate in groups or in pairs, completing various projects or simply discussing some topics. I am a medical student, so it was a real challenge for me to reveal my creativity, which was required when we had to perform such tasks as coming up with a company concept, inventing a story and even playing a skit. All the students did their best, revealed their creative potential to the maximum, besides, everything was in English, isn't it wonderful? For the sake of such an interesting experience and a lot of positive emotions, I want to continue to study with more enthusiasm and get better every day. I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity, this trip inspired and motivated me to keep moving forward, besides I'm extremely happy that I have met such cool girls who have become my true friends.”

Kateryna Maksymova, a student of the Faculty of Economics:

“It was a really wonderful and educational trip! In addition to a rich and varied studying programme, the University of Lancashire provided us with the opportunity to see almost all of Cyprus and visit its most beautiful cities and beaches. As for studying English, there were no similar classes. We worked in pairs and groups, created projects, and what I noticed was that each of the girls was different, and so were our ideas. Thanks to this, I significantly expanded my horizons, learned a lot of new things in various fields and met 18 wonderful girls! I am very grateful to Uzhhorod National University and its cooperation with the University of Lancashire for such a wonderful opportunity to study and travel at the same time. I will remember this trip with a sincere smile on my face for a very long time!”

Yuliya Khymynets, a 6th-year student of the Faculty of Medicine:

“Thanks to the intensive programme created by our foreign partners, we improved our level of English, and also had the opportunity to learn more about such an interesting country. I would like to personally thank Viktoria Svyshcho for her sincerity, openness and patience, because spending two weeks in the company of 18-year-old adult girls was quite challenging. So, no matter what happened, she always found a solution to the problem and created even more comfortable conditions for our stay at this school.

Every day we had three lessons and some leisure time in the afternoon, when we could go on tours or do whatever we wanted. The lessons were extremely interactive and interesting. I was particularly impressed by the teacher's approach, thanks to which he and I became friends.

I am very grateful to UzhNU and especially the Faculty of Medicine for the opportunity to talk about us abroad. In addition to improving my English, I found 17 new friends from Uzhhorod, with whom we have already planned our next meeting. Nowadays, it is especially important to develop comprehensively, and UzhNU guarantees this opportunity to all its students."

So, the Second English Language Summer School at UCLan Cyprus provided its participants with the opportunity not only to combine studies with leisure, but also to significantly improve their English language skills. At the end of the studies, the students received a certificate of completion of the "B1 Summer English Course 31st of July - 11th of August 2023". We are also pleased that the girls returned home not only with new knowledge, but also with new friends.

This cooperation initiative is far from the first successfully implemented together with our British partner, University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). You can read more about our joint projects following the links:

UzhNU establishes cooperation with University of Central Lancashire, Great Britain