Riley Leighton-Ron Romario is a student fr om Jamaica at the Preparatory Course of INRTU’s Department of Russian Language Didactics. He took part in the national “Recite” campaign, held to celebrate Russian Language Day.

The event was held at the Irkutsk Region Youth House on June 6, Alexander Pushkin’s birthday and Russian Language Day. It brought together young people from different countries and cultures.

This year, the campaign focused on Russia’s literary heritage. Russian and international students recited poems about patriotism, family, love, youth and dreams.

Riley recited Maria Kolesnik’s poem “Dream, Kind people, Dream” for the guests and participants. He had already performed the poem at the 12th International Russian as a Foreign Language Olympiad “We Speak Russian”, organized by Tambov State Technical University, wh ere he took third place in the “My Favorite Poem in Russian” category.

For his contribution to the campaign, Riley received a letter of appreciation from the Irkutsk Region Ministry for Youth Policy.

A total of 75 young people took part, including representatives of different peoples of Russia and international students from six countries.

After the poetry program, the participants joined the “Friendship Round Dance” event. They learned about the dance traditions of different peoples of Russia and performed Russian, Buryat, Chuvash and other traditional dances together.

The events were organized by the Irkutsk Region Ministry for Youth Policy, the Regional Center for Social and Information Services for Youth, the Irkutsk Region branch of the Assembly of the Peoples of Russia, the Irkutsk Region branch of the Volunteers of Culture movement and the Irkutsk Region International Friendship Club.

Riley will continue taking part in youth and intercultural projects this autumn. From September 12 to 17, he will travel to Yekaterinburg with the Irkutsk Region delegation to attend the International Youth Festival. The trip will give him another chance to represent the region and INRTU, meet young people from different countries and take part in activities that promote cultural exchange and youth cooperation.

“Events like this are very important for promoting the Russian language and culture. It is especially valuable when international students use Russian outside the classroom, discover Russian literature, speak in front of an audience and become part of the region’s culture life. I congratulate Riley on his successful performance and recognition. I wish him new achievements, great experiences and confidence as he continues learning Russian,”

said Alla Antonova, Head of INRTU’s Department of Russian Language Didactics.