From July 27 until August 23, 2014 Oksana Petrenko, a lecturer of the German Philology Department of MSU, took part in an internship at Goethe Institute in Germany. Within the framework of her scholarship program, she was studying methodology and didactics of teaching German together with colleagues from China, Portugal, Turkey, Indonesia, Iran, the Philippines, Egypt, Venezuela, and other countries. Oksana Petrenko was the only representative of Ukraine who had a unique opportunity to improve her qualification in the native speaking environment.

Goethe Institute is an authoritative German university with 60 years of experience in the field of teaching German as a foreign language, improving teachers’ qualification and developing educational programs, examination materials and study guides. It is located in Schwäbisch Hall which is the historical center of the former Free Imperial City with nearly millennial history.

The Institute staff showed concern both for the quality training and comfortable stay of the program participants. Foreign teachers stayed at one of the Institute hotels where they could enjoy free Internet access, use the multimedia self-study library, recreation rooms, and cafeteria.

The participants of the scholarship program studied European teaching methodology and didactics, exchanged experience with their colleagues from various countries and tried to conduct lessons independently improving their skills aimed at increasing the students’ active participation in class. In addition, the teachers received a huge amount of information about the host country.

After training sessions the participants could enjoy a diverse culture program. They visited the Globe Theater, cinemas, museums, art galleries, sports events, artistic contests, and went on trips to Nuremberg, Stuttgart.

Upon completion of the training program the teachers of German had to take a two-day examination, which resulted in them being awarded international certificates confirming their successful completion of the professional development program at Goethe Institute.

It is worth mentioning that students and faculty members of the German Philology Faculty of MSU participate regularly in educational programs, events and contests organized by this prestigious German university. This enables them to improve their fluency in German and introduce the latest teaching techniques into MSU curriculum.