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Odeion to host international artists at Clarinet Extravaganza

03 January 2020 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Supplied

Bence read more — Bence Szepesi will be one of the main attractions at the Clarinet Extravaganza

Some of the biggest names in classical music will be part of the second International Clarinet Extravaganza to be hosted by the Odeion School of Music (OSM) from 28 January 2020 until 1 February 2020. The 2020 festival hopes to build on the success of the inaugural festival held in 2016.

Some of the artists will include Eddy Vanoosthuyse and Severine Sierens from Belgium, Marco Mazzini from Peru, Feng Mei from the USA, and Bence Szepesi from Hungary.

“The objective of the festival is to expose South African clarinettists (of all ages and levels) and educators to current international clarinet trends, excellent artistry, and the opportunity to receive masterclasses from top clarinet pedagogues,” says Dr Danré Strydom, OSM lecturer and convener of the festival.

The festival will consist of various concerts, clarinet workshops, composition competitions for high-school learners and university students, individual and group masterclasses, and an evening concert with the Free State Symphony Orchestra. There is also a special prize to be won by the top participant. The winner will receive a full scholarship to attend the 2020 Clarinets on stage Academy in Belgium.

News Archive

CD-ROM for learning Afrikaans as foreign language launched

2009-04-30

At the launch of the CD-Rom, Gesellig Afrikaans, are from the left: Ms Riana de Beer, Research Assistant at the Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French, Mr Christo Steyn from Bare Creative who did the digitalisation of the CD-ROM, Prof. Van Niekerk, Prof. Engela Pretorius, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities, Prof. Driekie Hay, Vice-Rector: Academic Planning, and Mr François Marais, Director of the Centre for Higher Education Studies and Development at the UFS.
Photo: Lacea Loader

The Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently launched a CD-ROM course to learn Afrikaans as foreign language at the Main Campus in Bloemfontein.

For the past ten years the Department has been offering a course in Afrikaans as foreign language to small groups at the UFS. “However, the need for this course has escalated to such an extent on the Main and Qwaqwa Campuses of the UFS that we have decided to produce the CD-ROM. We have also found that not a lot of courses to learn Afrikaans were available. Those that do exist, do not recognise the needs of adult learners,” said Prof. Angelique van Niekerk from the Department.

“International students are often interested in learning new cultures and languages and staff members would also like to learn Afrikaans in order to understand the language better. Now they are able to master the basic principles and concepts of the language,” said Prof. Van Niekerk.

The course, which will be presented on the Main Campus, comprises a basic and an advanced course. Course attendants will receive both these CD-ROMs. English is used as the back-up language and translations of all the texts are available on the CD. Contemporary Afrikaans music is used to assist in fixing sound patterns, and the pronunciation of Afrikaans sounds, words and sentences is available through the sound component of the course. Uncomplicated language jokes, advertisement texts and cartoons are used to enhance the course content and a vocabulary list and list of idiomatic language uses will be kept updated by the learners. Explanations of basic grammatical constructions are given in both Afrikaans and English and learners are assessed at the end of the course. Aspects like word order, temporal indications, etc. are covered amongst other things.

“Mastering a foreign language is time-consuming and contact with the language is very important. Although there is a contact session with a facilitator of two hours per week, it is a handy course for people who cannot attend classes regularly,” said Prof. Van Niekerk.

The CD-ROM is available from at Prof. Angelique van Niekerk, vnieka.hum@ufs.ac.za, Tel. no. 051-4012339, at R150 per CD.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl.stg@ufs.ac.za
28 April 2009

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