55th Summer School at International Seminar on Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture begins in Ohrid
Ohrid, 19 August 2022 (MIA) – As long as a language has speakers, it will exist. While we exist and speak Macedonian, no negations, footnotes, remarks or anything else can conceal the truth. All of us who use Macedonian words are guarantors of its existence and strength, said President Stevo Pendarovski at the opening of the 55th Summer School at the International Seminar on Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture on Friday.
According to him, there is no document, declaration or statement which can ensure the existence and continuance of a language, if no one speaks it.
“Which is why in all of our surroundings, at home, the professional setting, leisure areas, sport, cultural events, religious temples, when we think and pray, let us speak in Macedonian and thus expand the universe of the Macedonian language,” said Pendarovski.
Language, said the President, is a living matter, it has its own dynamic and development and as such, in itself, it inscribes anthropological phenomena and absorbs the culture and worldview of those who speak it.
“Its expressive ability allows us to express our thoughts and share our inner world, creating communication that goes beyond the everyday and the material,” said Pendarovski.
The President wished successful work to the attendees with the expectation that the seminar will strengthen the participants’ linguistic connection to our country, literature and culture, but also to the Macedonian citizens.
“You are, in fact, building permanent bridges which connect people, nations and cultures. It is our honor and pleasure that precisely the Macedonian language is the thread which connects many of you who come from different countries and cultures,” said the President.
The Summer School, as one of the many activities organized at the International Seminar on Literature and Culture, according to the Rector of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Nikola Jankulovski, is exceptionally significant not only for the Macedonian language, literature and culture, but also for the country as a whole, because it is precisely during these classes that our greatest supporters and global cultural ambassadors are created, the foreign Macedonian language scholars.
Jankulovski said around 60 participants from 17 countries are attending the seminar.
“The figures are an indicator of the growing interest in the Summer School, but also in the Macedonian language, literature and culture. Besides participants from countries where Macedonian studies exist, such as France, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic... we also have participants from countries, which in the future might become university centers where the Macedonian language, literature and culture will be studied, such as Austria, Germany and Italy," said Jankulovski, noting that the attendance of participants from the US and South Korea shows that there is a resurgence of interest in learning the Macedonian language there as well.
The head of the International Seminar on Macedonian language, Literature and Culture, Vesna Mojsova Chepishevska pointed out that the 55th Summer School is proof of their continued efforts to spread Macedonian studies throughout the world.
“This is the 55th Summer School, which means these summer schools have been held continuously, without interruptions, since the distant 1967. It is truly a great tradition, involving the visits of foreign Macedonian language scholars, students, professors, translators, who are studying at foreign universities, at universities in Europe, but also in the rest of the world. With the pandemic things changed and after a two-year hiatus we are back and we have a wonderful number of sixty participants from numerous countries and continents, which shows that the Macedonian language resonates outside of Macedonia, it resonates in the world,” said Mojsova Chepishevska.
Running until September 2, the 55th Summer School of Ss. Cyril and Methodious University’s International Seminar on Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture will be attended by scholars from Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, the United States, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey, Hungary, France, Croatia and the Czech Republic. ad/ba/
The President wished successful work to the attendees with the expectation that the seminar will strengthen the participants’ linguistic connection to our country, literature and culture, but also to the Macedonian citizens.
“You are, in fact, building permanent bridges which connect people, nations and cultures. It is our honor and pleasure that precisely the Macedonian language is the thread which connects many of you who come from different countries and cultures,” said the President.
The Summer School, as one of the many activities organized at the International Seminar on Literature and Culture, according to the Rector of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Nikola Jankulovski, is exceptionally significant not only for the Macedonian language, literature and culture, but also for the country as a whole, because it is precisely during these classes that our greatest supporters and global cultural ambassadors are created, the foreign Macedonian language scholars.
Jankulovski said around 60 participants from 17 countries are attending the seminar.
“The figures are an indicator of the growing interest in the Summer School, but also in the Macedonian language, literature and culture. Besides participants from countries where Macedonian studies exist, such as France, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic... we also have participants from countries, which in the future might become university centers where the Macedonian language, literature and culture will be studied, such as Austria, Germany and Italy," said Jankulovski, noting that the attendance of participants from the US and South Korea shows that there is a resurgence of interest in learning the Macedonian language there as well.
The head of the International Seminar on Macedonian language, Literature and Culture, Vesna Mojsova Chepishevska pointed out that the 55th Summer School is proof of their continued efforts to spread Macedonian studies throughout the world.
“This is the 55th Summer School, which means these summer schools have been held continuously, without interruptions, since the distant 1967. It is truly a great tradition, involving the visits of foreign Macedonian language scholars, students, professors, translators, who are studying at foreign universities, at universities in Europe, but also in the rest of the world. With the pandemic things changed and after a two-year hiatus we are back and we have a wonderful number of sixty participants from numerous countries and continents, which shows that the Macedonian language resonates outside of Macedonia, it resonates in the world,” said Mojsova Chepishevska.
Running until September 2, the 55th Summer School of Ss. Cyril and Methodious University’s International Seminar on Macedonian Language, Literature and Culture will be attended by scholars from Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, the United States, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Turkey, Hungary, France, Croatia and the Czech Republic. ad/ba/ 
