Peterburgskii Dnevnik newspaper: Rector of St Petersburg University: people has always learned Russian as it was the language of Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Sholokhov, Tchaikovsky, Turgenev, and now people will also learn Russian because Putin speaks it
Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Tolstoy has appreciated how the President is well educated.
Today, the Congress of the International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature has been opened at the General Staff Building of the Hermitage Museum. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a welcoming speech to the event participants.
The congress is held every four years and covers all the major areas of popularisation of the Russian language heritage in the modern world. This year, there are 13 areas of research areas presented at the congress. Each of them is devoted to a specific group of issues: from a systemic and structural description of the modern Russian language to research into the dynamics of language changes, modern Russian lexicography, and methods of teaching the Russian language.
‘The last time we met was four years ago in Astana. Today, hospitable St Petersburg is hosting a truly representative congress. Imagine, more than 400 reports will be delivered during these few days. It is almost 600 participants,’ said Vladimir Tolstoy, President of the International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature and the Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature and Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Russkiy Mir Foundation.
Interest in the Russian language is increasing thanks to President Vladimir Putin, said Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University.
‘In general, interest in the Russian language is growing, and the traditional argument for why you need to learn the language is the same for both Spain and Russia: the country’s culture, writers, artists are what stirs up interest. Our language has its advantage. As one great Russian writer said almost 100 years ago, I would learn Russian only because Lenin spoke it. Today, interest in the Russian language is largely due to the fact that Putin speaks this language. The Russian language is moving forward,’ said Nikolay Kropachev.
The University has 112 Russian language centres in 50 countries. In 2023, the University has opened Russian language centres in Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, Kenya, Algeria, and Paraguay.
‘It is a well-known fact that the President asked for advice Lyudmila Verbitskaya, Honorary Professor at St Petersburg University. The President can use the Russian language excellently and figuratively. He believes that the head of the state simply does not have the right to make mistakes in the native language. In this regard, he has always checked to avoid mistakes. All over the world, at all press conferences, everyone is waiting for our President’s speech, because they know that it will be bright, vivid, emotional, and precise. He always finds the right word to define the right phenomenon,’ added Vladimir Tolstoy.