On the evening of March 28, the 2022OnlineOverseas Classofthe Schoolof Foreign Languages waskicked off. ChaojunYang,Dean ofthe College, delivered a welcome speech. Peter Szaffkó, a famousprofessor from Hungary, was invited togivea series of lectures entitled “An Introduction to EnglishLanguage and Culture; Communication and Translation”. The course is expected to last one and a half monthswith4 class hours per week and30 class hoursin total.
Peter Szaffkó is aretired professorfromthe Debrecen University. His current research interests includeHungarian-British relations, theatrical theory, and Canadian theatrical history. He hasalsoworked withmajoruniversities in Europe, Americasand Asia.
At the beginning of the course,DeanYang,on behalf of theSchool, welcomedand thanked Prof. Szaffkó for accepting the invitation and briefly introducedhisresearchfieldsand academic achievements.
The first lecture focusedon the history of the English language andthepronunciationchangeover the years.Vivid pictures help studentsbetterunderstand the historical background, phonetic features,andspellingdifferencesofthe three stages:Old English, Middle English andModern English. In addition,Professor Szaffkó introducedclassicliterary works of differentstages, such as the heroic epicBeowulf,Canterbury Tales,andShakespeare’s plays and so on.
OnlineOverseas Classis a newteachingmodewith the pandemic background.The Schoolof Foreign Languages has introduced 2 overseas courses every yearsince 2020.Students can have“face to face” communication withrenownedscholars thousands of miles away. On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Henan University,the Schoolwillholda series of overseas lectures, international academic forums andsummer camps, and other academic activities.
(Zhong Jing, Ding Lan)
