Azernews.Az

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

Nelson Mandela

By Kamila Aliyeva

People in Azerbaijan become more and more interested in rarer languages, that is, not so familiar and already traditional as English, German and French.

Nevertheless, English is still the most popular language for studying at foreign language courses in the country. Interest in English remains at a consistently high level due to its importance for the future career, since most employers seek candidates with knowledge of at least this language.

However, the preferences of people in choosing a language to be studied largely depend on specific life plans, whether it is getting a rare specialty or moving to another country. The choice might also be inspired by a simple “I like it” phrase.

But what leads to higher rates of interest to other languages among young people in Azerbaijan?

The integration of Azerbaijan into the international community, the implementation of transnational energy and investment projects with the participation of foreign experts, cooperation with educational, cultural and humanitarian organizations of neighboring countries have opened ample opportunities for realizing dreams of our youth. The holding of international conferences and symposiums in Baku, big sports events, tourism development have expanded the range of foreign languages studied in the country.

Therefore, in recent years the language segment of the educational market in Azerbaijan is developing rapidly. Also, the centers of various cultures were opened at the universities and embassies, naturally, with language courses provided there.

Opportunities for studying and working abroad, career prospects, interest in tourism have all pushed for growing desire of the young people to learn other languages.

Azernews conducted a survey among young people and recent graduates in order to understand which languages seem to be more attractive for Azerbaijani people and which are difficult to learn in our country due to lack of necessary conditions, that is, courses, teachers, or faculties at universities. The results were quite surprising.

The list of hard-to-reach languages which are interesting for Azerbaijani learner included Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese and Chinese. Such languages as German, French, Spanish and Italian were also in demand.

Most respondents pointed out that it is quite hard to learn Slavic languages (except Russian) in Azerbaijan due to lack of specialists and interest in them. Also, it should be noted that on average young people in Azerbaijan know about four languages in a varying degree – Azerbaijani, Turkish, Russian and English.

Knowing foreign languages expands your opportunities in life, keeps your brain fit and broadens your perspective. With each new language, one enriches his soul. We wish you good luck in your journey to mastering new languages.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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