St Petersburg University organises the largest test in Europe in Russian as a foreign language
The Language Testing Centre of St Petersburg University is holding the largest test session in Europe in Russian as a foreign language at the representative office of St Petersburg University in Greece. Greece has only recently cancelled its coronavirus lockdown. Nevertheless, more than 200 people arrived from 14 Greek cities to confirm their level of Russian language proficiency.
The test session is held for three days at the Centre of the Russian Language and Culture ‘Russian Word’ in Thessaloniki. Last year the Greek representative office of St Petersburg University was opened there. The event is supported by the All-Greek Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature. On the same days, specialists of the University Language Testing Centre organise test sessions in five more cities of the Hellenic Republic: in Athens, Alexandroupoli, Volos, Heraklion, and Ioannina. Every year, St Petersburg University’s tests of knowledge of the Russian language are taken by about 1,000 people in Greece. This number is growing from year to year.
Although the lockdown in Greece has already been cancelled, we have taken all necessary measures to protect participants in test sessions. It would seem that during the difficult times of the pandemic, people had less money and problems with work appeared. However, the number of people studying Russian has only increased. We saw this when more than 200 people registered for the event.
Dmitry Ptyushkin, Acting Director of the Language Testing Centre at St Petersburg University
Since 2016, St Petersburg University has been actively cooperating with its Greek partners. Annually, the University organises seminars for teachers of Russian as a foreign language, with more than 100 people taking part in them. Additionally, the University participates in the largest educational exhibitions of the Hellenic Republic, and also organises Career Days. St Petersburg University’s test sessions, during which participants can confirm their level of Russian language proficiency, are held in Greece twice a year: in February and June.
St Petersburg University is an authorised institution for conducting state testing in Russian as a foreign language. At present, the University’s Language Testing Centre organises test sessions in 85 centres in 26 countries throughout the world.