The Summer School of Intensive Russian Language Training for International Students has begun at TSU, and will last until September 6. This year the school brought together more than 20 students from Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Great Britain, and Luxembourg. The majority came from London for an internship at the Faculty of Psychology, and in addition they chose a program for studying the Russian language and culture as part of their school.
The task of this school for intensive study of the Russian language is to educate students of any humanities and natural sciences areas and specialties. The curriculum includes oral and written practice, deepening of basic grammatical topics, improving pronunciation and listening skills, and skills in practical stylistics.
- The initial level of the Russian language among school participants can be different, but, of course, we select more or less equivalent groups. Two or three years ago we had students who already spoke good Russian. But sometimes people come with zero knowledge of the language. They learn the alphabet, numbers, and basic phrases. Daily communication in Russian for three weeks helps them to learn how to communicate in typical situations. In any case, we did not have a single student who did not achieve the desired results, -said Valeria Kashpur, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Philology.
In addition to the Russian language lessons, the “pupils” discuss current social and cultural topics and the culture and history of Siberia, and meet with the Russian media - they take excursions to see the sights of Tomsk and its environs. Traditionally, it is the Museum of the History of Tomsk, the Museum of Slavic Mythology, Semilujensky stockade, and a rural park, Okolitsa. Other excursions are devoted to the wooden architecture of Tomsk and Tomsk’s multinationality. Students from the TSU-Online volunteer organization help international students in other movement around the city.
The first School of Intensive Russian Language was organized at the Faculty of Philology in 2008 as a joint project of Tomsk philologists and colleagues from St Petersburg and New York. Seven years ago, having gained experience in conducting such intensives, TSU experts began to conduct two or three schools a year.
You can sign up for school in two ways. There is a free enrollment when everyone can become a member of the school. Traditionally, such classes begin at the end of summer, because at this time most students have already completed the session and have open time. The second option involves training students from partner universities and universities that plan to begin collaboration with TSU.