Online group course of Serbian as a heritage language
The project Online group course of Serbian as a heritage language for students from the diaspora and region has been successfully carried out for the first time.
This year, Academic Serbian Association has carried out for the first time a project Online group course for students from the diaspora and the region. Accredited teachers of ASA gave classes to the course participants from all over the world. The project was carried out under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and Information.
The project lasted from June 10 to September 26 and the online course alone lasted from June 20 to July 31. Thirty-four students divided in 8 groups took part in the project. The countries where our students come from are: The United States of America, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, France, Argentina and Russia.
The course lasted one and a half months. The double classes of one and a half hour took place twice a week. The eight groups were formed according to the students’ age and the level of knowledge. The total number of classes held per a group is 24 (12 double classes). Besides learning Serbian language, our students could get to know our culture, tradition and history.
The natural method of learning
One particularity of a group course is that students were of approximately the same age and level of knowledge. That’s why they could get along as friends and share their experience in class, but also, when the class ends, via social networks. Our goal besides teaching Serbian as a heritage language was to connect the young form all over the world.
The special characteristic of the group course in the Academic Serbian Association is the natural approach of learning. It consists in learning through real-life situations, thus our students were learning the Serbian language by concrete examples in the form of workshops. The workshops were held via streaming using a camera. Our students could apply the acquired knowledge through practical tasks in these workshops. The tasks were simulations of real-life interactions: in the shop, in a museum, restaurant, pharmacy, travel agency, at the market, at the doctor’s office etc.
Besides the practical tasks, the students also had an assignment to record a reportage or make a presentation about their city. They showed it to the members of their group. The second part of the assignment was interviewing the people in the diaspora and presenting their way of life. At the end of the course the students got the Certificates of participation in 24 classes.
You can find more about the project in the brochure: Brošura – projekat 2021.