On May 9-14, 2005, the Department of Foreign Languages welcomed Bruce Williams from William Patterson University in New Jersey, U.S.A. Mr. Williams gave several lectures to the students of the department on Sociolinguistics, Bilingualism and Foreign Language Acquisition. He also had a chance to attend the final state qualification exam in English. The American professor spoke warmly about the faculty and students of our department, and rated their proficiency in English very high.
Mr. Williams also had some official meetings with the university President and the Republic authorities. At the end of his visit, the teachers of the Foreign Languages Department invited him for an informal cup-of-tea and gave him a small "Circassian" present as a keepsake of his visit.
Adyghe State University has long and stable relationship with William Patterson University. Some years ago several students of the Foreign Languages Department had a chance to visit the university and attend classes together with American students for one semester. It looks like the student exchange is to be resumed in the nearest future. And Professor Williams promised to come back to Maikop in October to participate in the celebration of ASU's 60th anniversary.
