This year’s spring course is also an anniversary as this unique course is now in its tenth consecutive iteration since the spring of 2011. Thirteen attendees have enrolled who will follow the course and participate in it from their homes in Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia, Canada, France, Portugal, Uruguay and the USA. The course runs through to the 31st of May 2015.
As of the 9th of March the University of Zagreb, the Croatian Heritage Foundation and the University of Zagreb’s SRCE University Computing Centre have kicked off a new round of the HiT-1 Croatian language internet course, an on-line course teaching Croatian as a second and foreign language. This year’s spring course is also an anniversary as this unique course is now in its tenth consecutive iteration since the spring of 2011.
The HiT-1 Croatian internet course is the first university on-line course teaching Croatian as a second and foreign language in the Republic of Croatia, launched at the initiative of the CHF. The course is the fruit of the cooperation of the CHF, the University of Zagreb and its SRCE University Computing Centre, with the support of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sport. It is an important project that allows people who are unable to travel to Croatia for instruction, or who have limited opportunities to learn Croatian in their country of residence, to learn Croatian. The course was in the development phase from 2009 to 2010 and had its first trial run in March of 2011.
So far sixty participants from twenty-four countries (Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, the USA, Belgium, Russia, Sweden, Greece, Canada, Australia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Germany, Italia, France, Great Britain, South Africa, Spain, Austria, Brazil, Poland, Switzerland, New Zealand and Croatia) have attended the course.
The HiT-1 course is a form of distance learning, conducted via the e-learning system, and includes a mandatory 24 hours of classes with an instructor via the Internet (Skype and Webinar). It consists of seven instructional units that participants have a total of twelve weeks to master, in which they are assisted by experienced instructors and experts for Croatian as a foreign language Lidija Cvikić DSc, Marija Bošnjak BA, Maša Musulin BA and Zrinka Kolaković BA – also the authors of this unique programme. Instruction is interactive and the approach to learning the language individualised.
Thirteen attendees have enrolled in this year’s spring e-course, and will follow the course and participate in it from their homes in Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia, Canada, France, Portugal, Uruguay and the USA. The course runs through to the 31st of May 2015, when all those who pass the final exam will receive confirmation of their participation and a transcript of their grades from the University of Zagreb.
The organisers have already announced the next round of courses for the period from the 14th of September to the 6th of December of 2015, with more detailed information available at this address.
Videos about the course can be found at the following web sites:
• Croatian language e-learning – CROnline
• Croatian language e-learning – Prilog HTV-a
Text by: Lada Kanajet Šimić
