International students of Penza State University became prize-winners of the II International Russian as a Foreign Language Online Olympiad.

St. Petersburg State University summed up the results of the international Russian as a foreign language Online Olympiad. More than 9500 foreign citizens from 147 countries took part in it. This is the largest intellectual competition in the field of Russian as a foreign language.

The Olympiad was attended by nine international bachelor students from PSU studying in "Linguistics (theory and practice of intercultural communication)" at the department of "Russian as a Foreign Language": Li Shutian and Liang Wenyao (9ИБЛ1 group), Inobat Azadova, Saiyara Kadyrova, Zou Shu and Fager Saedi (18ИБЛ1 group); Zarina Sattarkulyeva, Matlyuba Dzhuraeva, Sabina Charykulyeva (17ИБЛ1 group).

The Olympiad was held in two stages. The participants of the competition had to demonstrate their knowledge in the field of grammar, vocabulary, syntax of the Russian language, and complete a creative task. 940 people from 80 countries of the world got into the final.

According to the results of competitive tests, Li Shutian (China) and Saiyar Kadyrova (Turkmenistan) became prize winners of the II degree; Zou Shu (China) - III degree.

As awards, prize-winners and winners will receive textbooks in the Russian language, they will also have an opportunity to take a state testing in Russian as a foreign language for free. The most talented people will receive a special diploma, which gives them the privilege of entering Saint Petersburg State University.

For several years now, international students of Penza State University have been successfully participating in the Russian as a foreign language Olympiad. So, Zarina Sattarkulyeva became a prize-winner in 2018 and 2019, students of the Faculty of General Medicine from India won the II All-Russian Olympiad in Russian as a foreign language "Russian language and the history of medicine". Last year, at the International digital student Olympiad in Russian as a foreign language "Homo dicens", our students took all three prizes. Tatyana Kolyuzhko, a senior lecturer at the Department of Russian as a Foreign Language, is in charge of training the students for the Olympiad.

“Russian is the language of business communication, cultural exchange, the language of the country with a rich history. It was for these reasons why I myself once began to learn Russian”, Zarina Sattarkulyeva told the University newspaper, talking about her participation in the Olympiads.

According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 258 million people speak Russian today. This is the 8th place in the world. “The Great and Mighty” (Russian language) is ranked second on the Internet. The Russian as a foreign language Olympiad is held by the Ministry of Education of Russia as part of the programme to improve the quality of education in Russian abroad. It also includes other projects, for example, the project "Russian Teacher Abroad", which is being implemented on the basis of the International Education Center "Interdom" named after E.D. Stasova. This is the support of Russian teachers in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Mongolia and Serbia, where they teach the Russian language as well as other subjects in Russian.