Viktoriia Zakusylo, a postgraduate student of the Department of Germanic Philology, received a scholarship from the Lithuanian government and spent the autumn semester for study at Vytautas Magnus University (Kaunas, Lithuania) on the programme "Sociolinguistics and Multilingualism".

Since the programme is international, teaching was conducted exclusively in English. Viktoria studied five compulsory subjects: "Mediatization of Language, Culture and Everyday Life", "Multilingualism in Europe", "Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods in Sociolinguistics", "Academic Writing", "Lithuanian Language".

The educational process at Vytautas Magnus University was arranged in a mixed form. Students studied some subjects only online or combined online and live classes. The Lithuanian language was learned only in the classroom.

In addition, at the initiative of Viktoriia Zakusylo and with the support by the Institute of Foreign Languages of Vytautas Magnus University, a conversational online club "Sprich Deutch!" was created. It took place weekly during the autumn semester. The club was developed by Viktoriia for the teaching staff so that participants could communicate in German, upgrade their knowledge and discuss current topics. The club interested teachers not only from Vytautas Magnus University but also from Vilnius University.

Together with the Institute of Foreign Languages representatives, Viktoriia visited Kaunas Gymnasium and organized the "Language Café" in four languages: English, German, French, Russian. Viktoria conducted German language classes for gymnasium students. During lessons, students spoke German, played various language games and discussed cultural differences between Germany, Lithuania and Ukraine. Although the Language Café format is an informal way to improve foreign language skills while chatting over a cup of coffee or tea, Viktoriia has managed to organize an active session with many moving games.

Participation in international academic mobility programmes is always an excellent opportunity to deepen your professional knowledge, find like-minded people, make new friends, improve your foreign language skills and expand your horizons.