Russian to bring together teachers from 24 countries on the platform of St Petersburg University

Evgeny Grigoryev, Chairman of the St Petersburg Committee for External Relations, delivered welcoming remarks. He stressed that the courses for Russian language teachers solve an important task, including the development of international cooperation. For example, as a result of last year’s programme, an agreement was signed with the University of Carthage (Tunisia) to conduct tests of Russian as a foreign language there.

The programme will be attended by 85 teachers of Russian language and literature from 24 countries.

The professional development programme "Specifics of teaching Russian as a foreign or second language and Russian Literature in school and at university" will be held for the second time as part of the St Petersburg University Summer School. In 2023, 85 Russian language teachers from 15 countries participated in the St Petersburg University Summer School. This year, the geography of the participating countries has expanded. There are participants from Abkhazia, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, China, Georgia, Germany, India, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Romania, South Korea, South Ossetia, Spain, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The Language Testing Centre at St Petersburg University was established on 22 August 1997 to conduct state testing of foreign citizens in Russian as a foreign language. It is possible to take the exam not only in Russia, but also abroad: the University cooperates in this sphere with 115 centres in 50 countries around the world.

At the opening ceremony, Aleksandr Babich, Senior Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Admissions at St Petersburg University, spoke about the place of the professional development programme in the University’s educational activities. 

"St Petersburg University is actively working to promote and strengthen the position of the Russian language in the world. The presented programme is one of the important directions of this activity. It brings together a large number of Russian language experts from different countries. The course materials cover complex aspects of teaching Russian as a foreign language," said Aleksandr Babich.

Since 2021, St Petersburg University has been consistently working to spread and popularise the Russian language in African countries. With the support of the My History Foundation and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Centres for Open Education have been established in seven countries on the African continent. Since the summer of 2023, an in-person Centre for Open Education has been operating in the Republic of Tanzania.

The lecturers of the professional development programme "Specifics of teaching Russian as a foreign or second language and Russian Literature in school and at university" are leading experts from St Petersburg University, the Zlatoust Publishing House, researchers from the V.V. Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and winners of a competitive selection of teachers from St Petersburg schools. This year, in addition to the main programme, the experts will talk about the application of artificial intelligence technologies and neuropsychological methods in the practice of teaching Russian. 

Irina Ilicheva, Chief Methodologist of the Language Testing Centre, noted that the professional development programme is a start for new projects and international cooperation.