German and Serbian law students form language tandems

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Published: March 23, 2022

On 24 February 2022, the introductory meeting took place as part of the new format "supported language tandem", through which the IRZ would like to support law students from Germany and the Western Balkans to learn the legal vocabulary in the language of the respective tandem partner. This measure complements events such as the course in German legal terminology for German-speaking Serbian lawyers in Belgrade, which the IRZ has provided for the last 15 years.

The participants of the introductory meeting consisted of German-speaking prospective lawyers from the faculty of law in Novi Sad and law students from Germany, the latter having knowledge of Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian due to their family background.

What all the participants have in common is that they want to improve their verbal interactions and their knowledge of legal vocabulary in the other language. The language tandems are intended to support both sets of attendees. They take place in cross-border groups of two, in which the languages are spoken separately and in equal proportions. In addition to the bilateral meetings, the IRZ will offer participants further joint workshops at irregular intervals to exchange experiences.

The welcome address was given by Sloboda Midorović, Assistant Professor at the faculty of law in Novi Sad, and Dr. Stefan Pürner, Head of Division "South Eastern Europe I" at the IRZ. Finally, Nina Radojičić and Till Voges, both currently employed in the "South Eastern Europe I" department at the IRZ, presented the notes of the content regarding the language tandems. The participants got to know each other through an online introduction group and were organised in language tandems based on their areas of legal expertise.

Participants will learn more about foreign-language legal terminology in the future, and thus acquire a key qualification for bilateral legal transactions, which will also assist European integration.