Lobachevsky/RU Olympiad 2021: Summing up
The annual international Olympiad in Russian as a foreign language "Lobachevsky/RU" closed at the UNN on 23 April.
Taking part in the closing ceremony were Elena Zagaynova, Rector of Lobachevsky University, Olga Petrova, Minister of Education, Science and Youth Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Olga Guseva, Director of the Department of International Relations of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod region, and Alexander Bedny, UNN Vice-Rector for International Affairs. Addressing the participants, they emphasized the importance of the Olympiad for self-realization and increasing the interest in learning Russian, strengthening the position of the Russian language abroad, increasing the recognition of the Nizhny Novgorod region on the international educational market, and attracting talented international applicants to Nizhny Novgorod universities.
Representatives of different countries shared their experience of participation in the Olympiad:
Una Momčilović (Serbia): "This is the second year I have taken part in the Olympiad and I can say that it has been a great experience. Especially last year when the situation with the world pandemic was very tense: the Olympiad helped me a lot to take my mind off the situation in the world and to concentrate on something useful, to do something creative, to expand my horizons, to get a better knowledge of the Russian language and also to get to know new people from different countries. I recommend everyone to take part in the Olympiad. You can't go wrong here, I'm sure!".
Yusuf Abakar Mahamat (Chad): "I am very happy to take part in the Olympiad. I enjoyed the assignments and learned many new and interesting things while doing them. It was very interesting and exciting. Thank you so much for the Olympiad. I enjoyed it all!"
Favio Daniel Cortez Salcedo (Peru): "I am very pleased to participate in the Olympiad. It was a new experience for me. My favourite part was preparing the video: I was able to share a part of myself. And at the last stage of the Olympiad I had an opportunity to communicate in Russian with another participant who was unfamiliar to me. When I started learning Russian, I never imagined that it would become such an important part of my life. Now I get up every day with a feeling of joy because I have Russian lessons every day. It's not just a language, it's a new culture, new people and a whole new world".
The winners and runners-up in the different categories included participants from Algeria, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, China, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Montenegro, Mozambique, Mongolia, Serbia, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Ecuador. The list of prize winners can be found on the UNN website.
At the end of the meeting, the participants expressed their gratitude to the organizers of the Olympiad and the Russian language teachers.
"The Lobachevsky/RU International Olympiad has been organised by the NNSU since 2018 as part of the implementation of the regional Action Plan to support Russian compatriots living abroad. It is gaining more and more popularity: every year the number of participants increases and the geography of the event expands. In 2021, 530 persons from 67 countries competed to win the Olympiad. This year, the Olympiad was included in the Development Plan for International Youth Cooperation of the Nizhny Novgorod region. This Plan was drawn up following our region's participation in the 25th meeting of the Council of the heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation under the Russian Foreign Ministry, chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov," said Alexander Bedny, Vice Rector for International Affairs of Lobachevsky University.
Registration for the 2022 Olympiad will begin in the autumn of this year.
