Photo: from archive of participants

The team of the Department of the Russian language as a foreign of NEFU Philological Faculty took the first place in the team competition in the All-Russian Internet Olympiad in Russian for foreign students, and the master student Zhang Kaili became the first in the individual championship. The site of the annual Olympiad, held in three stages from May 1 to 26, was the South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University in Chelyabinsk this year.

NEFU team included students from China Zhang Kaili and Li Shu Qi, enrolled in master’s degree programme under the Rossotrudnichestvo, Amarzhargal Purzhvzaya from Mongolia, a third-year student of the Faculty of Finances and Economics, and Bilura Abylbekova, a 3rd year student of the Medical Institute.

The Olympiad was held remotely in several stages and included theoretical and practical, individual and team contests, according to the head of the team, the teacher of the Department of the Russian language as a foreign language, Lina Antonova. In the first round, the teams presented their creative work - NEFU team presented a video project. "We wanted to show Yakutsk city. We filmed beautiful places, then climbed the Chochur Muran, where we danced and filmed the Yakut national dance - osuokhay", said team captain Zhang Kaili.

In the second stage, participants passed online test in the Russian language and cultures of the world, where NEFU team showed a high level of knowledge, gaining 46 points out of 50 possible. The third stage was conducted in the team and individual championship, it included creative tasks - a photo competition for the finalists and writing essay by the captains of the teams on the given topic. "We were given three topics to choose. I wrote an essay on "The Life of a foreigner in Russia". It was not very difficult for me, and I took the first place in the individual championship", said Zhang Kaili.

For the third, creative stage, NEFU students also sent a competitive photo with a Pavlovo Posad shawl. "The Pavlovo Posad shawl is one of the symbols of the country, the symbol of the Russian soul, as wide, warm, bright and beautiful. It gives warmth and comfort, like people in Russia", states the description of the competitive photo of NEFU team.

The Olympiad is held as part of an adaptation program that helps foreign students to adapt more quickly to the student life and learn about the specifics of Russian education and life in Russia. One of the main tasks of the Olympiad was to strengthen the position of the Russian language, promote the ideas of interethnic tolerance and internationalization of education, and identify the communicative competence of foreigners who speak Russian.