St Petersburg University successfully popularises the Russian language in Tanzania
The Open Education Centre in Dar es Salaam (Republic of Tanzania) was opened this summer. St Petersburg University, with the support of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, organised the work of the centre. During several months, more than 300 people have studied Russian as a foreign language.
Since 2021, the Language Testing Centre at St Petersburg University has been strongly committed to popularising the Russian language in Africa. The University offers free distance courses in the Russian language in Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Algeria, Niger, and Tanzania. The University is planning to start Russian language courses in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Mali, and the Gambia. More than 27,000 people from 50 African countries attend online courses at St Petersburg University.
Teaching Russian as a foreign language at the centre is full-time. The classes are delivered by Irina Kataeva, a content developer at St Petersburg University and an author of popular textbooks. ‘How we teach Russian to Tanzanians is different from how we teach it to Europeans. Yet, there is something in common. The fact that they know two languages — Swahili and English — makes it easier for them to learn Russian, since many words are similar to either one or the other language. Some words in Russian are similar to words from Swahili, for example, pineapple (nanasi) and tea (chai),’ said Irina Kataeva. The courses are mainly attended by young people from 18 to 35 years old who are further willing to get a degree in Russia and find new career opportunities, she said.
The University has done much to ensure that the Open Education Centre is operating at full capacity. St Petersburg University and Tanzania Save The Community Initiatives signed an agreement to develop a network of partnerships. According to Dmitry Ptyushkin, Director of the Language Testing Centre at St Petersburg University, in future St Petersburg University is planning to sign additional agreements with the Mozambique-Tanzania Centre for Foreign Relations and the College of Business Education to conduct joint events.
At the centre, St Petersburg University, with the support of the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), implemented a full-time advanced training course for African experts in the Russian studies. About 30 people from different cities of Tanzania were introduced to the latest trends in teaching Russian as a foreign language by the experts at St Petersburg University, with about 200 more people joining online.
The Open Education Centre at St Petersburg University regularly holds meetings of Russian language speaking clubs for residents of Tanzania; workshops for schoolchildren on Khokhloma painting and Gzhel ceramics; and crash courses in spoken Russian for tourism business and military universities.
St Petersburg University has also held the Russian Culture Festival in Dar es Salaam. Residents of Tanzania studied geography, culture and history of Russia, folk games and dances and tried national cuisine and tea from a traditional Russian samovar.