Students from 42 countries attend Debrecen Summer University

Some 230 students from 42 countries have signed up for the four-week Debrecen Summer University starting on Monday, the rector of the university said.

The Debrecen Summer University, in eastern Hungary, is the longest-standing and largest institution involved in teaching Hungarian as a foreign language and promoting Hungarian culture, said Istvan Fabian.

A summer music academy course is an organic part of the summer university, Fabian said. For the first time this year, a Regional Development in the Carpathian Basin Summer University course is also available to students, he added.

Director of the summer university Peter Szeffko said that the number of students signing up for Hungarian courses had dropped in recent years. As a result, the university has introduced courses in English, such as the course on Hungarian music which has attracted many Chinese students and a course on 19th and 20th century Hungarian history which has attracted students from as far away as Malaysia and the Philippines.

The largest number of students this year came from Germany, France, the Unites States and Italy, Szeffko said.

During the summer university, students get a chance to learn Hungarian folk songs and dances, participate in quizzes about Hungary and pay a visit to the parliament building in Budapest and to famous chateaus throughout Hungary.

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