Have you ever been interested in learning Russian or German? Are you interested in learning more about foreign cultures and potential life abroad? Or are you interested in working for the United States Government?
With Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the reemergence of right-wing populism across Europe, knowledge of these languages is more important than ever. The United States government is in
critical need of nationals who speak these languages. The government’s need goes beyond linguistic knowledge; it prioritizes well-educated and passionate individuals who understand contemporary Russian culture as well as Russian grammar.
Luckily, this program at Yancey Library has you covered. Residents of Yancey and the surrounding counties now have the opportunity to enroll in free introductory Russian and German language and culture courses at the Yancey Library.
Aden Laws, a native of Yancey County who majored in Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will teach the courses. During his time at UNC, Laws achieved fluency in Russian and German and is also learning Norwegian and Icelandic. He was the recipient of the prestigious Paul E. Debreczeny Award in Slavic Languages and Literatures, revived Carolina’s inactive Slavic Club into a vibrant community, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and Delta Phi Alpha, the national German Honors Society. Laws has returned to Burnsville to provide accessible and high-quality education in Russian and German, before he returns to Almaty, Kazakhstan in August for a full academic year.
Laws has designed the courses in cooperation with professors from the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures at UNC. Their goal is to foster introductory knowledge of these languages and cultures and to provide a framework for further study.
Although both Russian and German have a reputation for being notoriously difficult, the approach used in these courses makes them seem simple. Students will spend only the first few days of class learning the Russian alphabet. After that, the course will cover basic conversational and grammatical principles using authentic resources.
Despite German’s seemingly difficult pronunciation and grammar, it is linguistically similar to English. Both German and English West-Germanic languages, meaning they have similar grammatical and sentence structures. In some ways, learning German is easier than learning Spanish or French. For students interested in more esoteric languages or in historical linguistics, Laws can also provide lessons in Old Norse, Old English, Old High German, and Gothic.
The courses will be taught for free at the Yancey Library on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. German will be taught from 9:45 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. and Russian from 12:30 p.m. until 2 p.m. from June10 to August 9.
Students will be provided with linguistic resources and handouts by the instructor. The only required materials will be a computer, paper, and pencils. For students without computers, the library can provide Chromebooks. There will also be additional pencils and paper in class.
If you are interested in registering or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Aden Laws. You can find him on Facebook, email him at (aklaws2020@gmail.com) or message him at (828-284-2863).