Интервью с полиглотом Руменом - преподавателем из Болгарии

Иногда очень хочется отойти от чтения шаблонных резюме и пообщаться более живо с преподавателем, именно поэтому мы представляем Вашему вниманию интервью с одним из преподавателей нашей школы, болгарином - Руменом, который любезно согласился пообщаться со мной и рассказать много интересного о себе, о своей жизни и конечно о своей любви к иностранным языкам и к их преподаванию.

- Добрый день, Румен! Спасибо, что Вы нашли время пообщаться со мной, думаю, что нашим новым ученикам будет очень интересно узнать многое о Вас как о преподавателе, возможно Вы расскажете о каких-то своих секретах в изучении языков, поделитесь опытом. Давайте начнем с самого начала, расскажите о Вашем детстве, юности, Вашей семье.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my experience of a learner and teacher of languages with an audience of people with similar interests. Since very early childhood I’ve got a keen interest in watching movies and reading books about other countries, their histories and way of life which I perceived as messengers from worlds and backgrounds different from mine, and provided the chance of exploring human nature and social circumstances not typical for the place and time that I was living in. In many cases.

I think I asked myself the question why the depicted characters think, speak and behave in ways not typical of people in my country and somehow felt under the impression that probably it also had to do something with the fact that they were speakers of languages different from mine. As we know language through its proverbs, idioms and the poetry, songs and books created in it is a repository of culture as defined in sociology as the total of ways of satisfying basic human needs in socially acceptable manner.

So language brings the lessons of the history of a specific country or countries and different countries have different histories thus – different morals from the bad and good periods in their histories. And this causes human beings, which are basically very similar perceive, act and behave differently under similar circumstances. I am sure that my interest in foreign languages and cultures was basically related to my pursuit of a more wholesome and rewarding self-actualization.

By this term I do not mean just practical career or life goal but rather acquiring and developing a richer perception of reality or more exactly of the different possible realities. I also love music and was charmed by the melody of different languages in my favourite foreign songs.

Подробнее о преподавателе

In my childhood I used to spend the summer holidays in the house of my grandparents in Central Bulgaria. My grandfather was a fan of foreign languages and cultures and knowledge in all respects of social and technical areas even though he had never visited a foreign country and had not even travelled very far from his village in Bulgaria. 
So he had a lot of foreign language textbooks tried to stimulate his grandchildrens’ interest in foreign languages by using greeting and phrases in German and French – the most infuential languages of the age when he lived. 
All this influenced my choice to enroll in optional language courses of English in the 3-rd grade and later to study in the English high school in Sofia – an elite secondary education institution, where we spent a whole academic year studying just English, had native English teachers and studied the majority of subjects in English. 
After high school I studied international economics at the Moscow Institute of International Relations where the importance and quality of foreign language study is very high. There I learnt Russian, Spanish and French

- Сколько иностранных языков вы знаете, и какие они? Какими из них владеете в совершенстве?

I have near native fluency in English (because of my extensive exposure to English by native English speakers in the English Language High School in Sofia and my 6 year life in Britain and Ireland), Russian because I lived and studied for 3 years at MGIMO in Moscow, Spanish which was my first foreign language at MGIMO and later I lived and worked in Spain for 2 years and communicate very often with my friends – native speakers of Spanish. I am also highly proficient in Italian, Portuguese and French (my second foreign language at MGIMO). I have also lived and worked in Italy and Belgium for a few years. I am proficient as well in Serbian and Croatian, languages related to my native Bulgarian of countries I love and often visit, quite proficient in Greek (I very often visit and adore Greece and Greek culture) as well as Swedish – a culture I deeply respect and like.

- Румен, Вас без сомнения возможно назвать полиглотом, ведь знать столько языков задача не из простых! Как Вам удается поддерживать свои знания по каждому языку? Общаетесь с носителями или есть другие способы? Ведь невозможно тренировать каждый язык в равной степени, на одном приходится говорить чаще, на другом реже.

Of course communication with native speakers is very useful for improving language skills, but nowadays we have other channels for exposure to foreign languages like TV, radio and cinema. Reading books in the target language is a very good way of expanding one’s knowledge. Certainly the opportunities the internet provides for live conversation with native speakers and distance learning make the study of languages more accessible, more fun and more effective than ever before.

- Вы путешествовали в другие страны, если да, то помогло ли Вам знание языка узнать культуру и традиции другой страны?

I have studied, worked and lived in a lot of countries, including Russia and this has given me opportunities to master the languages of those countries and get deeper knowledge of their cultures. I think that one cannot understand another culture without good knowledge of the respective language and direct communication with its people.

- Как Вы считаете возможно ли владеть в совершенстве иностранным языком или это недосягаемая высота?

This is quite possible but it requires personal motivation and a lot of efforts and work.

- Какой, на ваше мнение, самый эффективный метод изучения иностранных языков?

Any language reflects real life where the laws of logics act and itself is built in a logical way, so by analyzing the relationship of the grammatical constructions of a language structure and the actual logics of the described reality by said structure helps understand the logical structure of a given language.

In learning words related words from other languages you know help as well as finding emotional or figurative associations for words you don’t recognize from the other languages you learn. It is also very useful to try to think in the language you are learning.

I think that a combination of the scientific and communication approach gives the best results. Learners have to know and understand the grammatical rules and structure of the foreign language and have to use them in active communication on useful topics and situations which are at the same time interesting for them.

- Как Вы вообще относитесь к дистанционному обучению иностранным языкам? Считаете ли эту методику эффективной? Давно ли преподаете по Скайпу? В России, например, данный способ изучения существует уже более 10 лет и с каждым годом становится всё популярнее, составляя весомую конкуренцию традиционному виду обучения.

My experience of teaching languages over skype has shown that this method has all the advantages of face-to-face classes without having their disadvantages. It saves time and money to the learners while allowing them direct contact with the teacher.

- Какими качествами по Вашему мнению должен обладать преподаватель иностранного языка по Скайпу?

Like with usual classes a skype language teacher should know well the target language and should be able to explain its rules, grammar and peculiarities to the students. He/she must know the culture of the respective countries, should be positive and interesting to communicate with.

- Какой совет Вы дадите нашим ученикам, которые только приступают к изучению иностранного языка?

I’d like to encourage people to learn and improve their knowledge of foreign languages. Mastering English is very important as this is the language of international communication. However this is not enough and more and more knowledge of other languages is necessary and provides great opportunities for people’s career and personal development.

- Что Вы хотели бы пожелать нашей школе и нашим ученикам?

I wish students a lot of pleasant and interesting hours of study of foreign languages online and the possibility to appreciate and make best use of this innovative method of learning.