On October 18, a cultural and educational online marathon for Chinese students "Learn the Russian language and culture" started at Penza State University.

Within the framework of the project, the University staff and teachers will work with international students from October 18 to November 12.

“The programme is aimed at generating interest in learning the Russian language and culture among Chinese youth. It includes a training course in the Russian language and a cultural block of workshops on the practical mastery of Russian traditional crafts and customs. In addition, within the framework of the project, we are going to film ten videos about traditional Russian crafts and customs and are preparing for publication a textbook on Russian as a foreign language “We are learning Russian”, said Olga Meshcheryakova, Head of the International Relations Office of the Institute of International Cooperation, PSU.

More than 1000 students from 20 leading Chinese universities, including Sichuan University, Yangtze University, Chongqing University, Central Southern University, Xinjiang University, Wuhan University, Liaoning University of Petroleum and Chemical Technology, Southern China University, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou City University, Xi’an International University have applied for participation in the programme. More than 750 students and schoolchildren from China took part in the first day of the marathon on the Zoom platform.

The project is being implemented as part of a grant from the Russian World Foundation with the active support of the Volga-Yangtze Association of Chinese-Russian Universities and IPR-Media company.