About Russia With Love

01.12.2022

About Russia With Love

On December 1, Tula State University hosted the 1st International Scientific and Practical Conference “View from the outside: Russia through the eyes of foreigners”, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the start of foreign citizens training at Tula State University.

The conference was held as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the start of foreigners training at our university.

The event was attended by representatives of the Embassies of the Republic of Zambia, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, the Republic of Guinea, Palestine, university professors and foreign citizens studying at Belgorod State National Research University, Higher School of Economics, Tambov State University named after G.R. Derzhavin and Tula State University.

Tula State University rector Oleg Alexandrovich Kravchenko greated the audience with a welcoming speech.

According to hin, the event echoed the concept of interaction with the countries friendly to Russia, voiced by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

Russians are very interested to know how foreign citizens see our state. And in order to get to know our country closer and better, you need to visit it, feel its spirit, communicate with its people, in other words, feel Russia from the inside. And then convey the information to their compatriots.

Director of Institute of International Education of Tula State University Olga Dmitrievna Gladkova devoted her speech to one of the socio-cultural events of Tula State University as a tool for discovering the cultural code of another country.

Sixty years ago, she said, eight students from Bulgaria came to study at Tula Polytechnic Institute. These were the pioneers. Then, the Cubans, the Hungarians, the Syrians appeared arrived to study at university. Now, Institute of International Education is represented by 70 countries of the world. At our university, the students not only gain knowledge, but also communicate with each other, get acquainted with the cultures of different nations. And the cultural code of any country, the speaker explained, is a special key to understanding its culture and traditions.

The Interregional Forum-Festival “We Welcome All the Flags!”, held at Tula State University, aimed at developing the creative potential of students, is a kind of a tool for getting to know the culture of other countries, strengthening the position of the Russian language and preserving national identity.

Deputy Head of the Preparatory Faculty, Associate Professor of the Department of "Russian Language, Professional, Speech and Intercultural Communication" of Belgorod State National Research University Elena Borisovna Nazarenko spoke about the basics of intercultural interaction in the multinational environment of a Russian university.

The topics of the works presented by foreign citizens at the conference were quite diverse.

Yang Xinyuan from China is a second-year undergraduate student at the Faculty of Philology and Journalism of Tambov State University named after G.R. Derzhavin.

The girl prepared a report "Speech Etiquette in Russian and Chinese Linguistic Cultures."

“Russian and Chinese greetings are different,” Yang Xinyuan explained. — In Chinese, there are three groups of common greetings: simple greetings, greetings-conversations and greetings-addresses.

The master student admitted that she was very pleased to take part in the conference.

“This is speech practice and communication with students from different countries who study at Tula State University,” she said.

Jordanian Ali Vahi Elayan is a second-year mrdical student at Institute of International Education of Tula State University.

His report was called "Russian Cinema through the Eyes of Foreigners."

Ali speaks good Russian. He said that he had watched a lot of both Soviet and modern Russian films. He was greatly impressed by such films as "Operation" Y "and Other Adventures of Shurik", films dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, "The Barber of Siberia" by Nikita Mikhalkov, "Moving Up" and many others.

- Russian cinema is kind and soulful, it carries a deep semantic message, - Ali emphasized. - At the forefront of all film productions is a person.

The future doctor believes that Russian cinema is the main means of popularizing Russian culture abroad. With the help of cinema, you can get acquainted with the history, culture and tradition of Russia.

The conference participants discussed the problems of learning the Russian language for a foreigner, the importance of adaptation for foreign students in the process of learning the language, stereotypes about Russia and Russians among representatives of Middle East and North Africa.

The conference not only left no one indifferent, but also united all participants in an effort to make their creative contribution to such an exciting event.

Tatiana Krikunkova

Photo by Mikhail Gindin