This year, more than 300 Russian academics from 23 countries of the world participated in the competition, said Yadviga Yuferova, deputy editor of Rossiyskaya Gazeta and member of the Presidium of the Presidential Council of Russia, welcoming the laureates. “When the “great Russian word” is at stake, it must be taught and preserved. There is no Russian scholar in the world to whom Akhmatova’s lines, included in the title of the contest, would not give strength and confidence today” , said. Is conviced.
Among those who are having a hard time today is Eleonora Rudakovskaya-Borisova, a graduate of the famous University of Tartu. She works at the French Lyceum in Tallinn, where she has always been taught Russian. But starting next year, parents and children will have to choose which language to learn: Russian or English. “Yuri Lotman, whose lectures we heard at the university, said that only the incomprehensible becomes strange. As best we can, my colleagues and I try to make the Russian language understandable for our students,” Eleanor said at the conference. Award ceremony.
She received the laureate diploma from the Minister of the Moscow Government, Head of the Department of Foreign and International Economic Relations, Sergei Cheremin. Courage, dedication, pride: these three words became the keywords of her congratulations. “It is a joy to see more new faces every year,” the Minister shared with emotion: “This means that the competition is alive and will remain alive.”
According to Mikhail Shvydkoi, special representative of the President of Russia for international cultural cooperation and chairman of the board of directors of the Pushkin Competition, serving the Russian language in some countries can be considered a civic feat. “Today we are going through an incredibly difficult period, and when I think about what helps me live and work, I understand: these are the great meanings that are embedded in Russian literature and in the literature of your countries, dear laureates,” he reflected. . “We must look at the broad lines of history. Russia has gone through different eras. And it has always won thanks to its spiritual values. When Dostoevsky, who did not favor Europe, was asked how he would justify himself before God when he appeared at the Judgment Final responded: “I will give you Don Quixote by Cervantes. There are no hostile peoples in the world, there are hostile elites and people are attracted to each other.”
This humanitarian logic is supported by Meena Radha Mohan of India, who teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University. According to him, the university already has 300 students with the help of 17 teachers learning Russian, and is the largest Russian language center not only in India, but also in Asia. In addition, the country is on the verge of educational reform, thanks to which schoolchildren will be able to choose the language of Pushkin and Tolstoy to study.
And Russia will be happy to provide assistance to teachers and professors of the Russian language, said Dmitry Kozhaev, director of the Moscow House of Compatriots. “We will help organize Russian classes, provide textbooks and literature, provide computers and submit applications,” he announced. Judging by the reaction of the winners, this invitation will definitely be taken advantage of.
By the way, Kozhaev received the largest delegation to award diplomas. Uzbekistan ranks first in terms of the number of works submitted this year. This also happened because it was in Tashkent, where Anna Akhmatova was evacuated, that her famous “Courage” was born, the immortal lines of which are included in the title of the contest. Or maybe thanks to the excellent school of Russian studies. When Habiba Tolipova talks about her Russian teacher, many cry. Emma Evdokimovna is 91 years old, and she is already very weak. “When you go to Moscow, remember every word,” she admonished her victorious student. “Bring Soviet ink and a notebook in a large square, I can’t see well anymore. I promise I won’t die before you return, We will live and be proud of you.”
“You have shown that Russian is not a foreign language for you, but a necessary, important and native language,” said Margarita Rusetskaya, director of the Moscow Corporate University of Education. She recalled the words of the famous linguist and author of textbooks on RFL Vitaly Grigorievich Kostomarov, who believed that in the world the languages of friends and enemies are studied with equal interest. “If it were not for happiness, but misfortune helped, the current difficulties will surely result in an advantage for the Russian language, and the number of those who study it will increase,” Rusetskaya added.
For example, unlike many countries, Iran, whose representative was also among the winners of the Pushkin Competition, is expanding its Russian-speaking space. According to Asghar Ghodrati, there are currently 14 specialized departments in the country. The teacher admits that students find it very difficult, especially with cases and types of Russian verbs. “I’m a full professor and students call me ‘scary,'” he jokes.
It is a miracle that every year in Moscow, despite the circumstances, Pushkin’s professors gather, says Marina Koroleva, professor at the Higher School of Economics and chairwoman of the jury of our competition. But isn’t it a miracle that of the first 16 grades of a huge rural school in Novopavlovka, Kyrgyzstan, ten are taught in Russian? Russian is the country’s second official language. Currently in Kyrgyzstan there is a boom in Russian-speaking classes, says teacher Zhyldyzbubu Omurzakova. By the way, recently three new schools with education in Russian began to be built in the republic.
A festive ceremony is never complete without a standout musical moment. This year, Pushkin’s teachers listened to the ensemble of folk songs “Lyubo-Milo”. Well, what heart of a Russian scholar can resist “White Acacia” or a Russian romance as sad and touching as “The Coachman Does Not Drive the Horses”?
