South Stream prompts Serbian students’ interest in Russian

BELGRADE Construction of a section of the South Stream gas pipeline through Serbia has caused a rapid increase in students' interest to learn the Russian language. "The Russian language was not popular but the construction of South Stream has brought a sudden rise of interest, especially in Vojvodina", Assistant Education Minister Vesna Fila said. South Stream prompts Serbian students’ interest in Russian According to Tanjug, there is also a growing number of students who wish to learn Chinese, due to the arrival of Chinese investors. Fila said that the pilot project of the Chinese language course, introduced in 2012, would probably be extended until the end of the school year and that it would afterwards be decided whether it would become an optional school subject. 2,500 pupils currently learn Chinese in 35 schools in Serbia. Seven foreign languages are offered in schools in Serbia – English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Chinese as a pilot project. English still enjoys the greatest interest, since about 90 percent of all pupils take an English course from the first grade. Another foreign language is introduced in the fifth grade, so children learn French, Russian or German, depending on the region and arrivals of investors. Therefore children from Kragujevac often learn Italian because of Fiat factory that operates in the city, while schools in Pirot, where the automobile tires factory Tigar operates together with Michelin, offer bilingual education to students. VIP

South Stream prompts Serbian students’ interest in Russian

According to Tanjug, there is also a growing number of students who wish to learn Chinese, due to the arrival of Chinese investors.

Fila said that the pilot project of the Chinese language course, introduced in 2012, would probably be extended until the end of the school year and that it would afterwards be decided whether it would become an optional school subject.

2,500 pupils currently learn Chinese in 35 schools in Serbia.

Seven foreign languages are offered in schools in Serbia – English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Chinese as a pilot project.

English still enjoys the greatest interest, since about 90 percent of all pupils take an English course from the first grade.

Another foreign language is introduced in the fifth grade, so children learn French, Russian or German, depending on the region and arrivals of investors.

Therefore children from Kragujevac often learn Italian because of Fiat factory that operates in the city, while schools in Pirot, where the automobile tires factory Tigar operates together with Michelin, offer bilingual education to students.