The round table on the topic “The greatest wealth of a nation is its language”

09/11/2023 at 09.00 in room 428 of the HED building senior teachers of the Department of Foreign Languages Zagorulya O.L. and Otyzbaeva K.Zh. organized an event dedicated to the week of languages, in which 1st year students of the Faculty of Heat and Energy and the Faculty of Economics, specialties “Logistics” (12th subgroup) and “Finance” (14th subgroup) took part.

The purpose of this event was to familiarize students with such an important and significant holiday as the Day of Languages in the Republic of Kazakhstan, which was approved by the Decree of the President of Kazakhstan at the end of the last century in 1998, and has since been celebrated on the second Sunday of September. For our multinational country, where more than 85 nations live peacefully and amicably and there is unity of spirit beyond religious and national affiliation.

During the event, several stages were carried out: at the first stage, Oksana Leonidovna gave a speech about the main important concepts related to the languages, cultures and traditions of representatives of different countries living in Kazakhstan. It is very important to know and understand that the language on the Rada with state symbols is the personification of the strength and power of any country. This is an integral sign of statehood and a connecting link in the transmission of knowledge through generations. According to UNESCO, there are more than seven thousand languages and dialects in the world, among which about 400 languages have their own written language, and 178 languages have state status. Language is called “the greatest wealth of the people,” since it is the language that reflects the life of an entire community of people.

At the second stage, students were heard in a foreign language about languages and cultural issues related to languages. Students covered the versatility of the concept and associations of language, taking into account such moments as the history of the emergence of the language (Czech language), overcoming the difficult circumstances of the formation of the language as a national language (Pakistani language), the displacement of the language from the state in which the language had been present for centuries (the conflict between the Russian and Ukrainian languages, associated with hostilities between two states). Students also noted that the “Mobility” program functions very well in Kazakhstan, through which students have the opportunity to come into contact with and experience other foreign languages of near and far abroad, such as German, Polish, Czech, French, English, Italian, Belarusian. The importance of these languages was also revealed by the students.

At the third stage, a game was held to test the knowledge of greetings in different languages of different nationalities. It was gratifying to hear that the students guessed almost 70% of greetings from the twenty proposed countries.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the goal of this event was achieved. Students unanimously expressed their positive opinion about respect for the languages of all nationalities. It was also noted that knowledge of foreign languages makes it possible to open doors to other countries, that is, to travel, learn and penetrate the culture and traditions of other peoples!