November 10, 2017 within the framework of the project «Foreign language competence development of TSU students» the master class «Language and Culture» was held. The master class for the freshmen was hosted by Constantine Andreev and Natalia Zakharova, the postgraduate students of the Faculty of History. In his lecture «One language - two countries», Constantine helped the participants to come to know the peculiarities and crucial differences between British and American English. The students took the test to find out if they were users of American English or British one.
The second part, given by Natalia, was called «What culture is and what culture is not». The participants took a look at different aspects of culture such as visible manifestations and the invisible aspects - traditions, mentality, the understanding of morality in different cultures, etc. They got acquainted to the notion of stereotype and its meaning. Natalia presented a list of widespread stereotypes about Russians, which was found amusing. The students had the opportunity to discuss the credibility of some of them and how those stereotypes reflected Russian culture.
The participants of the master class «Language and Culture» were fully engaged in its work and discussions throughout both parts. After the meeting the students underlined that they were happy to take part in the master class, because the topics were extremely interesting to them.
