DepartmentForeign Languages and Cultures

The Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures was established by decision of the Academic Council of NBU in March 2018 after the merging of the Department of English Studies and the Department of Romance and Germanic Studies.

The department focuses its scholarly research on the theoretical and applied aspects of general and comparative linguistics, translation theory and practice, foreign language teaching methodology, information and communication technologies in foreign language teaching and learning, as well as the literature and culture of the English, German, French, Spanish and Italian speaking countries.

The Department designs materials for English, German, French, Spanish and Italian language teaching and learning, and provides the education in these languages to BA, MA and PhD students at NBU, as well as to external users. It aims at raising the quality of Foreign Language Teaching by introducing modern methods of language teaching.

The Journal of the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures is an open access online academic journal featuring publications by lecturers and PhD and MA students at the department. Collections of articles dedicated to the achievements of renowned lecturers at the department, by scholars from Bulgaria and abroad, are also published annually.

The department organizes monthly seminars for graduate and PhD students, while the ongoing Language, Literature and Culture Seminar on theoretical and applied aspects meets students with teachers and guest-lecturers from the country and abroad. Monthly seminars for MA and PhD students are also held, as is the annual Winter School on Foreign Language Teaching. 2017 saw the first Summer translation school.

The students of the BA and MA Programs are provided with the opportunity to develop their skills and competencies in an actual working environment, as the Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures has agreements with leading schools in Sofia where they can do their training and practice teaching. For students in the Translation and Interpretation programme, there is a conference room with state-of-the-art equipment in Building 2 (Room 401) of the university, having two double booths and 16 delegate seats.

The Department has concluded agreements with a number of professional schools and colleges to provide teaching placements and internships in foreign language teaching to students in the Department's undergraduate programmes. It has signed framework agreements with universities in the country and abroad, working on Erasmus+ projects with universities in Spain, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Italy, Turkey, and developing active links with cultural centres of the UK, USA, Russia and Poland, based in in Sofia.

Lecturers and students from the Department's programmes provide translation and interpretation services for the needs of NBU, including lectures and seminars with international participation. Lecturers from the Department participate as experts in the implementation of a number of international projects.

Most of the lecturers are members of national and international professional organizations such as the Bulgarian English Teachers' Association (BETA-IATEFL), the International American Studies Association, the Association of Interpreters andTranslators in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Association for Quality Language Services "OPTIMA", the Bulgarian Association of German Teachers, the Association of Spanish Teachers in Bulgaria, the National Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science for the development of matriculation examinations in English, Spanish, French, German and Italian, the International Association of Bulgarian Language Teachers. The International Association of German Language Teachers, the International German Teachers’ Union (IDV), the Central-European Association for Canadian Studies and others.

Head of Department

Prof. Diana Yankova, PhD

Office 201, Building 2

Phone: 02/ 8110 351; ext. 22212

e-mail: dyankova@nbu.bg

Secretary

Nelly Haralampieva

Office 201, Building 2

Phone: 02/8110 371; ext. 22011

email: nharalampieva@nbu.bg