Învătarea si cunoasterea limbilor străine în Principatul Transilvaniei
The Study and the Knowledge of Foreign Languages in the Principality of Transylvania

Summary/Abstract: The Study and the Knowledge of Foreign Languages in the Principality of Transylvania The paper presents and analyzes the knowledge of foreign languages in the Principality of Transylvania, approaching, in turn, every social category. First comes the knowledge of foreign languages displayed by the princes and the political leaders, followed by that of the nobles and even of some broader social categories, chiefly from the urban areas. Also presented are the reasons why, during the 16th–17th centuries, the inhabitants of Transylvania sought to learn additional languages, reasons that are political, diplomatic, and religious in nature, but which also had to do with the presence here of a multicultural space. In its second part, the paper presents in detail the means and the methods used in the acquisition of foreign languages, from educational institutions to textbooks and books, traveling, or private tutoring. The conclusions point out the high level of foreign language mastery in the Principality of Transylvania.

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