Getting to know a new culture, way of life and language different from hers has always been a challenge for Martina Naumovska. That is why she decided to get acquainted with the Romani language, as the language of a community that is an integral part of us and has its own history, culture and traditions. Martina is still the only graduate student to have completed four semesters in Romance at the Department of General and Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Philology in Skopje. There she obtained a diploma in Macedonian language and South Slavic languages, ie Department of Macedonian Language and Literature - teaching direction.

However, the Romance department was quickly abolished, so Martina is one of the first three students to attend those lectures and believes that this department should be returned.

At the beginning of the first semester, we enrolled only three students who had chosen this language, and the group was led by the respected professor Dr. Ljatif Demir. There was little interest because it was the first year since the Romani language entered as an integral part of the Department of General and Comparative Literature. Although we were a few students at the beginning, in the end I was the only one who completed my two-year studies in Romance. The two-year studies included teaching the language, history and culture of the Roma, and thus the colloquia and exams that were within this subject were an integral part - says Martina.

Martina's love for the Romani language was born while she was in the primary school in her native Kicevo. At that time, mother tongue instruction was introduced for students from the smaller ethnic communities, and she was very interested in it and it sounded unusual to her, so the whole story started even then.

According to her, the interest in learning the Romani language is greater than ever and should not remain only on the margins of primary education.

- From personal experience, from my work as a teacher so far and from the large number of students who choose and follow the subject Language and Culture of the Roma, I can say that the interest is great. Every child stands even stronger on their own feet and has more self-confidence by learning their language, tradition and history in schools. The Department of Romance, as I have emphasized before, I believe and hope that it will soon get its place at one of the faculties of teaching and that new staff with new ideas and reliable realizations will emerge from there. "Children deserve to enjoy that right," Martina said.

Link: https://www.fakulteti.mk/news/01032021/martina-naumovska-e-edinstvena-shto-gi-zavrshi-dvogodishnite-studii-po-romski-jazik

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