Bosniak Language and Literature

Hello, I'm Taner Şen. I work as a research assistant at Trakya University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Bosnian Language and Literature. I am one of the first graduates of the Bosnian Language and Literature Department. Afterwards I completed the Balkan Studies master's program. I am currently continuing my education in the Balkan Studies doctoral program. The Department of Bosnian Language and Literature was established in the 2007-2008 academic year. The aim of the department is to examine the language, culture and history of Bosnia and Herzegovina; and To train students who will work in the field. There are two different types of courses in our department as elective and compulsory. Elective courses are given mostly by other departments in the Balkan languages and literatures, and compulsory courses are given by the expert staff of the Bosnian Language and Literature Department. Our courses are during the 1st and 2nd grades, and cover language skills such as Linguistics, Speaking, Listening, and Writing. In the 3rd and 4th grades, we tend to focus more on translation, history and literature. Students in our department have to take a certain amount of course credits for 4 years. In addition, they graduate by presenting a scientific study. Two different exchange programs are implemented in our department. The first of these is the Mevlana exchange program and it is very important especially for Bosnian Language and Literature students. Because we have sent many of our students to Bosnia and Herzegovina for education within the framework of the Mevlana program. Apart from this, within the framework of the Mevlana exchange program, faculty members and staff come to our university from universities abroad, especially from universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a result of the seminar lessons given by them, our students have detailed information about the language, culture and history of the region. Another exchange program is the Erasmus exchange program. In the Erasmus exchange program, Bosnian Language and Literature students can continue their education for 1 or 2 semesters at universities in Croatia and Slovenia, where our university has agreements with. In addition to their own scientific studies, the lecturers working in our department develop new projects in cooperation with the public institutions and organizations of our country. In accordance with the protocol signed between Trakya University and the Ministry of National Education, the teaching materials of the elective Bosnian language course for secondary schools were prepared by the instructors of the Department of Bosnian Language and Literature at Trakya University.
We can list the job opportunities for students who graduate from the Department of Bosnian Language and Literature as follows: First of all, they can work as a Bosnian and Turkish translator in public institutions and organizations, they can be educators in the language school of the Turkish Armed Forces to train the personnel to be sent abroad, and the Ministry of National Education. They can teach elective Bosnian course in schools, they can be Bosnian and Turkish translators in media organs such as Anadolu Agency and TRT, they can translate law and literature history in private translation offices, they can become a translator in this sector due to the interest in Turkish serials in the old Yugoslav geography in recent years, and they also have a duty in the tourism sector. In recent years, with the increase in health tourism from the former Yugoslav countries to our country, they can easily find jobs in this field both as an office worker and as a translator. As the Bosnian Language and Literature Department, we feel very lucky to be a part of Trakya University. Trakya University has several missions. The first of these is to increase the number of students coming from Balkan countries. Since we teach Bosnian in our department, this creates a great advantage for us. Students of our department have the opportunity to practice the language they are learning with native speakers residing in our campus. This is really important to us. Apart from this, Edirne attracts a lot of attention in terms of tourism, especially from the Balkans. Thus, our students have the opportunity to speak and practice the language they are learning. Also, since our university attaches great importance to the Balkans, Trakya University has close ties with the Balkan countries and their people, their language and history, and it always takes initiatives to improve the relations with other educational institutions in Balkan countries. There are a few questions that students who come to our department frequently ask, and I would like to clarify them. First of all, students who prefer us are wondering if any knowledge of Bosnian is necessary before they come to the department. To put it bluntly, there is no need for such knowledge. Because in our department, we start from the very beginning to teach the language, starting from the alphabet. For this reason, students who will come to our department do not need any language knowledge beforehand. In addition, there is a rule that is valid not only for the Bosnian Language Literature Department but also for all foreign languages, it is very important to put the learned theory into practice. For this reason, apart from the education received in classrooms, they should be engaged with the language either through online sources or by communicating with native speakers. This way, they will see that they are progressing more quickly. We welcome all students who are interested in Balkan countries, Balkan languages, Balkan culture and history to Trakya University.