On March 23 the Russian as a Foreign Language in SSU Festival took place in Saratov University. It was dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the university. The event moderators became the Institute of Philology and Journalism and the International Office.
The first stage of the festival was the interuniversity linguistic and cultural olympiad in the Russian language “Russian Word Puzzle”. Its participants became more than 100 students of Saratov universities and colleges (Saratov State University, SSU Geology College, Saratov State Medical University, the Saratov State Conservatoire, Saratov State Vavilov Agrarian University, the Volga Region Academy for Public Administration, and Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov) from 19 countries, e.g. Turkmenistan, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Egypt, China, Nigeria, Congo, and Côte d'Ivoire.
The opening ceremony was hosted by Associate Professor of the SSU Department of Russian Language, Speech Communication, and Russian as a Foreign Language D.I. Yakhina.
Then the audience was welcomed by the festival initiator – Head of the SSU Priority Projects and Programmes, Professor E.G. Yelina.
‘It is noticeable that the first Russian as a Foreign Language in SSU Festival is organised when we celebrate the 110th anniversary of Saratov University. I am glad there are so many students in Saratov who have come from different countries, and they love the Russian language. I would like you to use it not only as the language of your studies and research but the means of communication with everybody around you – Russian citizens. All of you speak different languages and you are united by the Russian language. I think it will become the pillar of cooperation and friendship. I hope you will always remember about the efforts of your professors and Saratov University to help you speak Russian at a high level,’ marked Elena Genrikhovna.
Vice-Rector for International Affairs D.I. Konakov underlined students would know the Russian language and culture better due to the Olympiad and love Saratov University and Saratov even more.
Director of the Institute of Philology and Journalism L.S. Borisova also delivered a speech. She said that there had been courses in Russian as a foreign language at the institute, and now students of the course in Russian philology learn how to teach it as well.
‘Our students are always interested in this programme because they can have more chances to find a good job. Recently, students from the USA, China, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Iraq have studied at our institute. Besides, we have already held summer schools for students from France and the U.S., so if you have friends who would like to study Russian in Saratov University, we will organise summer schools for them.’
The next event within the festival will take place on April 17-18. There students will able to participate in the Panel Discussion “Modern Issues of Teaching Russian as A Foreign language: Traditions, Innovations, Perspectives”, a photo quest “Saratov University: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”, and Creative Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language Laboratory.
The olympiad results will be announced on April 15. You can find them on the university web-site. The prize winners and their professors will be awarded at the closing festival ceremony on April 18 at 4 p.m. in Bldg. XVIII.
