Thirteenth Round of the HiT-1 Croatian Internet Course

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This round will run through to December 4th of 2016 when all participants that pass the final exam will received confirmation of participation and a record of their grades from the University of Zagreb. 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 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 today. HiT-1 is an on-line course teaching Croatian as a second and foreign language created as a product of the collaboration of these three institutions with the support of the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sport. Eleven participants from seven countries have enrolled for the thirteenth round (Argentina, Chile, Hong Kong, Canada, Columbia, the USA and Sweden). Five of the students are involved in the programme with the help of scholarships provided by the State Office for Croats Abroad.

Given that the participants come from countries from numerous time zones classes will be held from 7:00am to 11:00pm.

“Considering that the participants are from different countries around the world the organisation and conduct of the live classes requires a high level of professionalism and flexibility, not only of the teacher, but also of the participant. What makes this course unique and recognisable are live classes via Skype and Webinar, allowing for an individualised approach to the participants and that we adapt the content to the needs and capacity of each participant,” says Marija Bošnjak, one of the creators and the head e-instructor for the course. Twelve semesters have been held from March of 2011 to June of 2016, with classes attended by 106 participants from thirty-four countries. Given the success of the course thus far and the satisfaction of the participants, consideration should be given in the near term to creating electronic courses for higher learning levels. “Besides the participants that have completed the HiT-1 course, we receive daily queries from many people interested as candidates whose level of proficiency is above the beginner level,” Bošnjak noted.

 

The HiT-1 Croatian internet course 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. It has now also become a necessity for some Croatian emigrants: as of recently acquiring Croatian citizenship requires more than just a confirmation of Croatian extraction – it also requires that applicants know the basics of the language, spoken and written, which is exactly what this course provides.

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 was in the development phase from 2009 to 2010 and had its first trial run in March of 2011.

HiT-1 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 Marija Bošnjak, Maša Musulin, Zrinka Kolaković and Lidija Cvikić – also the authors of this unique course.

This round will run through to December 4th of 2016 when all participants that pass the final exam will received confirmation of participation and a record of their grades from the University of Zagreb.

The organisers have already announced the following periods for the course as March 6th through May 28th of 2017. Find out more at www.matis.hr.

Text by: Lada Kanajet Šimić

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