In period November 6-7, 2025, the West University of Timisoara had the pleasure of hosting a series of courses dedicated to Spanish linguistics, supported by Prof. Dr. Aneta Trivić and Prof. Dr. Andjelka Pejović, from the University of Belgrade, and Prof. Dr. Tibor Berta, from the University of Szeged, attended by Hispanic students from the Languages and Literature specialization of the Faculty of Letters, as well as doctoral students and teaching staff from the Spanish section of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures of the Faculty of Letters, History, Philosophy and Theology.
This initiative was made possible thanks to the support provided by CEEPUS Program (Central European Exchange Program for University Studies) – a university network that promotes academic mobility in Central Europe, contributing to the exchange of experience between students and teachers in this region. Through the working format of the network, CEEPUS scholarships are granted by the host country of mobility, at the national level established by law. In this context, the Ministry of Education of Romania, through the National CEEPUS Office, annually grants a number of 500 months of scholarships for students and teachers arriving at universities in Romania for study and teaching internships, respectively.
For students, international mobility, such as that offered by the CEEPUS program, significantly develops academic (research, analysis, academic writing, language skills), social and intercultural (effective communication, cultural empathy, working in international teams) and essential personal skills, such as autonomy, organization, adaptability and emotion management, thus contributing to the formation of a global perspective and increasing professional training in diverse environments. On the other hand, the mobilities carried out by teachers in different university centers make it possible to access new information and often offer the chance to discover research areas and perspectives that beneficially complement their professional training at the universities where they study.
The visit of Hispanic professors from Serbia and Hungary to UVT in November is part of a long history of collaboration through the “Red de Hispanistas de Europa Central” network, created in 2010 and currently bringing together 22 Hispanic studies departments from 11 countries in Central and Southeastern Europe. (Incidentally, this network received important recognition in 2024, through the CEEPUS Ministers’ Award, which is equivalent to its designation as the most successful network out of the 130 that are part of this program). The classes held by the invited professors were an opportunity to delve deeper, in a stimulating intercultural and academic context, several important themes of linguistics: diatopic variation, idiomatic expressions and verbal periphrases of the Spanish language.
The diatopic variation of the Spanish language illustrates the richness and diversity of a language spoken on different continents where traditions, history and cultural contacts have shaped nuances specific to each region. At the lexical level, the same reality can receive surprisingly varied names — from computer in Spain at computer in Latin America — revealing well-defined local identities. Phonetically, the rhythms and melodies of the language are subtly transformed, through phenomena such as: seseo (the pronunciation of z and c in front of him e or i ca /s/) from Andalusia and much of America, consonant aspiration s or the rhythmic Caribbean intonations. Even the grammar reflects this diversity through peculiarities such as the use of the pronoun your in Cono Sur or preference for you in his place you, in almost the entire Latin American continent. Together, these differences create a unitary, yet deeply pluricentric language, in which the identity of each Spanish-speaking community is found in words, sounds, and structures.
Through these international collaborations, UVT continues to strengthen academic relationships with European partner universities and provide students with high-quality educational experiences.
