Round table at the Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic for the International Mother Language Day

On February 21, International Mother Language Day, Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic hosted a virtual round table «Language is the soul of every nationality, its sanctity, its most valuable treasure», dedicated to the 125th anniversary of our university.

A total of 96 participants from Zaporizhzhia and other cities of Ukraine, as well as European countries, were brought together by the round table: teachers and students of the 1st-3rd years of the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Construction, Architecture, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Business Technologies and Economics, teachers of the Ukrainian language and literature, pupils and students of grades 5-9 of Lesya Ukrainka Gymnasium No. 2 and tenth grades from «Sichovo collegium» of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council.

During the round table, the participants took part in various locations:

1. virtual scientific presentations by winners of Olympiads, all-Ukrainian and international competitions, participants of various levels of conferences (scientific supervisor of all speakers — associate professor of the Department of Ukrainian Studies and General Language Training Halyna Onufrienko):
   • «There is no language without a people, and there is no people without a language» — Mykyta Khmura, BTE–0113
   • «And we will miraculously magnify both our mind and our tongue» — Viktoriia Kovtun, BAD–532
   • «Brynit, our language sings» – Kateryna Dzetsyna, GF-313
   • «Language secrets in territorial dialects» — Nika Krotova, BAD-513
   • «My language is Ukrainian — my father’s, my mother’s» — Kostyantyn Barniak, BAD-534
2. a useful and interesting conversation for students and high school students with the head of the scientific work department Snizhana Vychuzhanina about the competition of business ideas «STARTUP with Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic»
3. virtual presentation of the new book «Iceland. Northern Days at Midnight» from the series «The World Through the Eyes of Ukrainians», authored by Andrii Gladiy, a graduate of the Faculty of Humanities
4. creating a collective virtual board «My favorite words about my native language» and a linguistic quiz under the leadership of Iryna Voronyuk, assistant professor of the Department of Ukrainian Studies and General Language Training
5. guest location — a creative meeting with Oksana Gladiy, a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, a laureate and diploma winner of international and all-Ukrainian competitions, a well-known Zaporizhzhia TV and radio journalist, the author of innovative and long-term TV projects («Language as the Sea», «Living History of Zaporizhzhia») and radio projects («Native language, native word»)
6. interesting interactive language game «Fact or Fake» (Yelyzaveta Kramarenko, GF-114)
7. informational video stories about linguistic and cultural diversity in the XXI century. (Associate Professor of the Department of Ukrainian Studies and General Language Training Iryna Voronyuk)
8. recitations by schoolchildren of poetic works in various European languages:
   • poem «Possibly, the guns will thunder again» by Vasyl Simonenko performed by the winner of this year’s regional competition of readers «Language unites» Lubomir Voronyuk
   • «Testament» by Taras Shevchenko — performed by a team of 6th-7th grade students in the languages of the countries where they are now forced to stay
9. recitations by students of the second and first years of Ukrainian modern poetry:
   • «Native language» by Oksana Zabuzhko (Taisia Sergienko, GF-313)
   • «It was enough to know everything about the language! You have to talk to her!» Tetyana Strokach (Polina Darmograi, Anastasiia and Kristina Kolomoets, Mykyta Krivokhlyabov, Ulyana Pogorelova — students of BAD–534)
10. dynamic discussion «A time of active reflection», prepared by freshman Kostyantyn Barniak and assistant professor of the Department of Ukrainian Studies and General Language Training Halyna Onufrienko, which was attended by all those present

The moderators of the round table are assistant professors of the Department of Ukrainian Studies and General Language Training Halyna Onufrienko and Iryna Voronyuk.

This year’s large-scale celebration of International Mother Language Day at the Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic reminded us that every word in Ukrainian is a step towards strengthening national identity. Thank you all for your active participation!