The Conference was opened by Pál Hatos the director-general of Balassi Institute. In his speech he remarked that Hungarians think they are a lonely nation, however, by getting to know other cultures and by spreading the Hungarian culture and popularizing it, that lonelyness would diminish. He emphasized that the task of the guest intructors is not only the familiarization of the Hungarian language but also to spread the Hungarian culture in a wider range, in which the support of the Balassi Institute is ensured.

The functioning of the Hanban and the Confucius Institutes is quite similar to that of the Balassi Institute’s, however, in certain cases, there are differences as well and during the presentation of the SZTE Confucius Institute the directors highlighted them. Lívia Szentmártoni, Hungarian Director, briefly summarized the history and the mission of the Institute, while the Chinese director Zhang Xuemei talked about how the Hanban and the Confucius Institutes work in general.

All in all it is fair to say that the Balassi Institute and the Hanban/Confucius Institutes are walking the same path, and the cooperation and the exchange of experiences could lead to serious advantages for both parties. We hope that the participation in the aforementioned conference was the first stage of a productive cooperation.

Photos: Balassi Institute / Attila Lambert