The first meeting of the Russian-Chinese club for communication in Russian “Diamond” was held at the Faculty of Philology of North-Eastern Federal University. The international club was opened with the grant support of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.

Svetlana Petrova, chairman of the club, head of the Department of Russian as a Foreign Language, noted that the club was also established to popularize the Russian language. Students can participate in giving classes, which will help them develop communication skills in public speech, increase knowledge about the culture, history, traditions and customs of Russia and Yakutia. “We are glad to welcome students from our Chinese partner universities. We are waiting for you to come to Yakutia and see with your own eyes what a wonderful republic we have. The meetings will last until December 19 - there will be 7 of them in total. At these meetings you will not only get acquainted with our country, republic, but also share what is important to you. Therefore, we want our Chinese colleagues, students and teachers to be active participants. I wish our club a good journey!" - Svetlana Petrova wished.

Three key partners in northeastern China have been invited to participate in the club's events - East University of Heilongjiang, Changchun Institute of Science and Technology and Boda Institute at Jilin Normal University. NEFU has exchange programs with these universities, in which students from both sides are mutually exempted from tuition fees at the host university. Nyurgun Maksimov, Director of the Institute of the East at NEFU, expressed hope that the club's work will further stimulate exchange programs between universities. In addition, annually, with the support of the Russian cultural center in Beijing, a competition is held for obtaining a quota within the framework of the state support for admission to Russian universities on a budgetary basis. “Chinese students who won the competition get the opportunity to enter NEFU. When admitting new students for these quotas, priority is given to partner universities. Besides Chinese students, our students are also involved in the club's work,” commented Nyurgun Maksimov.

Galina Zhondorova, deputy chairman of the club, dean of the Faculty of Philology, drew attention to the fact that the study of the Russian language has become important due to the rapid development of tourism and business. The Russian language is important for science and technology, and many other fields of knowledge. Students learning this language build successful careers, have the opportunity to work in large international, Russian organizations, she pointed out. When it comes to practical language acquisition, Russian universities help students who have never studied the language before. One of these universities is NEFU, especially - the Faculty of Philology. The educational unit offers educational programs in the following specialties: “Philologist”, “Teacher of the Russian Language and Literature”, “Journalist”, “PR Specialist”.

“Currently, about two hundred foreign students study in various programs at our faculty. Studying at the Faculty of Philology is a kind multicultural language environment, qualified teachers, an individual approach to each student, the opportunity to participate in scientific and various events, and an active cultural life. I wish the club students success in the future and thank them for their interest in the Russian language,” summed up Galina Zhondorova.