New Methods in Teaching Romanian Language for Foreign Students

There is no need for a rigorous sociological research to prove that most Romanians believe that the Rotnanian language is a very difficult language to learn by foreigners and that few foreigners would have the motivation and perseverance to make such an effort. At the Department of foreign students, University of Pitesti, Faculty of Sciences of Education, students from different countries come to study, and we found that some of them, whether from Mongolia, Brazil, Syria or Turkmenistan, have succeeded to understand Romanian and even to speak at a satisfactory level after several months of interaction with their Romanian colleagues. These examples contradict the stereotype "Romanian language - a language inaccessible to foreigners" or "Romanian language an uninteresting language". It is time to overcome these limited and limiting perceptions and focus on the practical way that all students coming to study in Romania can be supported to learn the Romanian language at a level sufficient for their own needs. Many foreign students confess that they had contact with Romanian literature and culture before coming to Romania. Most students arrive in our country but come in contact simultaneously both with the Romanian language and the society and culture of Romania, which are often significantly different by the linguistic and cultural context of their origin. Our research is based on diversity in teaching and learning Romanian by foreign students, non-formal education having a major role in diversity. At this level, we identify the changes which the experience produces on students. After the experience, we make the transition to the second action, the reflection, when we become conscious by the produced effects. The teacher's role is to facilitate every level of learning by experiencing, reflection, generalizing and application. It is therefore necessary to design new methods and modem tools for learning the Romanian language, articulated with the cultural dimension and at the same time, focused, not on the history of literature, nor grammar, but on the practical dimension. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the University of Pitesti, Romania