Know more about Russia: Competition for international students "Russian Regional Studies"
The Department of Russian Language and Intercultural Communication of the Baikal State University held a Competition for international students "Russian Regional Studies". Students from several Irkutsk universities came to the International Faculty to demonstrate their knowledge in the field of culture, history and geography of Russia. The students had to show their knowledge of the state symbols of the Russian Federation, the most famous sights, traditions and holidays. The main part of the Competition concerned regional studies.
2024 is the Year of China in Russia, that is Chinese students were invited to the Competition, and they were offered additional questions about Russian-Chinese cultural and historical ties. Six students of INRTU took part in the competition, three of them participated at A1 level (Yang Mamingzhu, Zhu Yuanhui, Hu Guozhen), and three of them at B1 level (Wang Aiqing, Zhang Lirong, Ma Xuxin).
Ma Xuxin, a postgraduate student of the Institute of Economics, Management and Law of INRTU, who took second place at the Competition, shares her impressions:
On April 12, 2024, I went to the Baikal State University to participate in the Russian Language Competition and was honored to win the second prize at the В1 level. The competition was divided into two parts: written and oral. It examined our knowledge of Russian history, culture, geography, and our knowledge of Irkutsk and Lake Baikal.
When I first heard about this Russian competition, I didn't have much confidence because I just came to Russia and studied Russian for a year and didn't know much about Russia's geographical regions, history, and cultural traditions. In addition, Russian is still very difficult for me, especially oral expression. Many times, even if I can understand it, it is still difficult to speak and communicate with others. So the second part of the competition, situational dialogue, is the most headache for me. It forces me to use all the vocabulary and grammar knowledge in my mind to speak complete Russian sentences. Although it is painful, it is very fulfilling. I think I need more of this kind of exercise.
I’m very grateful to Nataliia Petrova for introducing us in detail the history, traditional festivals, food of Russia, etc. in class. I’m also grateful to Alina Kutimskaya for Russian language classes and studying interesting facts about Russia. I learned a lot of knowledge about Russia for the first time, which I think is very interesting and fascinating!
Nataliia Petrova, a member of the jury, a teacher of BS BRICS INRTU, says about the Competition:
Our students took part in the Regional Studies Competition for the first time. We guided and supported students during the month before the competition, studying culture, history and geography of Russia. We are delighted with the organization of the event: fascinating interactive tasks, simple and understandable assessment criteria, friendly colleagues! We will definitely take part in this event next year !
