The Summer School for foreign teachers of Russian language was completed at INRTU

The Summer School for Russian language teachers from Mongolia and China was completed at INRTU. Certificates of professional development were officially handed over to Russian language teachers by Stepan Bykov, Vice-Rector for International Affairs.

The course was a continuation of the free educational project launched in July on the initiative of the Center for International Services. Nine Mongolian specialists in Russian philology were trained. This time 17 teachers from Mongolia, China and Nigeria attended the course. During the month, they attended lectures and practical classes, improved their pronunciation skills, and studied new teaching methods. They also visited Listvyanka and the Taltsy Museum.

To summarize the results of the School, Vice-Rector Stepan Bykov emphasized that this project is annual. He invited foreign colleagues to attend the courses next summer. He also expressed hope that the geography of the attendees will expand:

"I hope that the Summer School helped you to develop your teaching skills, and you also got acquainted with the Siberian culture of our region. Tell your colleagues about our School. We will be delighted to see them next year in Irkutsk."

Among the listeners was Boldbaatar Urangoo, who speaks Russian fluently. She shared that she grew up in Baganuur, a small mining town in western Mongolia, wh ere many children of Soviet miners lived. By communicaing with them, Ms. Urangoo learned the basics of spoken Russian. Her interest in Russian language and literature was awakened by her mother, a teacher with thirty years of experience.

"Russian language is a special heritage in our family. I took my mom's footsteps and graduated from the Mongolian National University of Education in Ulaanbaatar in 2014. Now I have been teaching schoolchildren in my hometown Baganuur for almost 10 years. In order to develop in my profession, I need to constantly improve myself. That is why I went to Irkutsk for the course. It was a valuable experience - highly qualified teachers worked with us. They taught us modern pedagogical methods and showed us how to introduce digital resources into the educational process. When I return home, I will definitely advise my colleagues to attend the Summer School at INRTU and will make efforts to preserve the centuries-old Russian-Mongolian friendship," says Boldbaatar Urangoo.

 At the closing ceremony of the Summer School she sang the song "You are Russia, my Russia" from the repertoire of Lyudmila Zykina. Mrs. Urangoo emphasizes that Lyudmila Zykina is one of her favorite singers.

Ma Chao is a graduate and teacher of Heilongjiang University (Harbin). He points out that the courses at INRTU helped him not only to improve his linguistic knowledge, but also to immerse himself in the Russian university environment. Such experience will come in handy for Chao when he prepares to enter the postgraduate program at the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute (Moscow).

According to Ma Chao, he will advertise INRTU among Harbin youth:

"Teenagers are more interested in the field of artificial intelligence. There is no doubt that this is a promising area. However, in order to understand the trends of digitalization, it is necessary to adopt international experience. Foreign languages, including Russian, will help in this regard. Moreover, in recent years, many Chinese families have been sending their children to the Russian Federation for higher education. I believe that our children should pay attention to INRTU. This is a university with a developed infrastructure and a strong teaching staff. You should also come here to see with your own eyes the wonderful historic city of Irkutsk."

The INRTU staff also congratulated Adeola Oluwafeli from Nigeria on completing the course. He is a member of the Department of European Studies at the University of Ibadan. In his native country, Adeola teaches Russian to a compact group of students (10 people). The teacher recently completed his master's degree. He will soon receive his PhD in English Language and Culture.