MASU held the event of Days of Russian Language and Culture in Norway
On March 12-14, the Days of the Russian Language and Culture were held for the first time in the Norwegian city of Kirkenes. The event was organized by Murmansk Arctic State University in the framework of federal grant program «Russian Language» with the financial support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
The goal of the program is to promote Russian language and culture abroad. Having received extensive funding from the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, university staff decided that it was extremely important to popularize Russian language and culture in Norway, the neighboring country and the major strategically significant international partner of the Murmansk Arctic State University as a flagship university.
Inna Ryzhkova, head of Research and International cooperation office was the project leader, while the Days program was developed by Anastasia Koreneva, Olga Ivanischeva, Alexandra Burtseva, Tatiana Rychkova (professors at the Department of Russian Philology and Mass Communications), and Alla Klimenko.
«Education, language, and culture are eternal values, and it is through these resources that we are trying to develop friendly relations with our northern neighbors,» says Anastasia Koreneva.
The delegation, in addition to teachers and staff of MASU, included students from two Murmansk schools.
«We selected guys who speak good English and can communicate independently. They are 15-17 years old teens from 9-11 grades. They represent gymnasium number 3 — this is the basic platform where our students-philologists have an internship, and gymnasium number 2, which was chosen because the school has a language profile and the guys have an advanced level of English,» said Inna Ryzhkova.
The extensive program of the Days of Russian Language and Culture included many thematic events. On the first day of the celebration, schoolchildren met their peers from Norway, participated in various quizzes, including questions on the knowledge of Russian and Norwegian culture.
Days of Russian language and culture were continued in the local library. The photo exhibition «Man and the North», the musical and literary performance «Kola North», as well as the contest «What do we know about Russia?» were presented to the attention of locals. In the final part of the event, the guests wrote «Pomor dictation».
The second day of the event opened with the celebration of Maslenitsa: the authors of the project treated everyone to tasty pancakes, and later, on the square in front of the Kirkenes library, the traditional effigy of Maslenitsa was burned. Celebrations have aroused great interest among guests and locals.
«I am very grateful to all colleagues who inspired and developed these events. For me, as the head of the international department, it is very important to see sincere support and warmth in the eyes of the Norwegian colleagues and the Norwegian partners. I know that they are doing everything in full, often overcoming obstacles to help us organize the event. This is especially important for us, this is the contribution of the university as an educational and scientific institution in building a bridge of friendship, in strengthening peace,» said Inna Ryzhkova, expressing the hope that the Days of the Russian Language and Culture in Norway will become a tradition for the high school.