Master class for Lobachevsky University students conducted by RT Arabic TV channel
On 22 May, a master class for UNN students was held by the staff of RT Arabic, a Russian news channel broadcasting in Arabic 24 hours a day. Sandra Fahmy, producer of the RT Arabic channel, Mazen Yousef, head of the RT Arabic website, and Sargon Hadaya, the channel's senior war correspondent, became guests of Lobachevsky University.
Taking part in the event were 20 UNN students studying Arabic or fluent in it, as well as representatives of other universities of Nizhny Novgorod. The meeting opened with a presentation of internships proposed by RT Arabic. The students learned how to become a part of the news channel team, what are the specifics of a war correspondent's work and how military conflicts are covered for the Arabic-speaking audience. The channel's representatives shared their experience of news writing with the students of Lobachevsky University, focusing their attention on the techniques of creating content that will be of interest to viewers and readers.
According to Oleg Trofimov, UNN Rector, the meeting was very interesting and enriching. It was quite different from the format of a classical academic lecture but was rather a discussion and dialogue for sharing practical experience.
“It is very important for the students to go beyond the purely academic environment and communicate with practitioners who will give useful advice, including on how to build their future careers. Today our partners - employees of the RT Arabic TV channel - acted as lecturers at this meeting. The project is implemented as part of the activities of Lobachevsky University’s Middle East Centre. At our university, students study various foreign languages, including Arabic, and this meeting brought together those who specialise in Arabic. Such events are very important, they open good opportunities for our graduates' career development, for the recognition of Lobachevsky University in the world, for developing academic exchange programmes for our students and for promoting Russian education and Russian culture abroad,” said Oleg Trofimov.
As RT Arabic producer Sandra Fahmy noted, the main objective of the meeting was to encourage students to consider internships as an opportunity to explore different fields and to decide for themselves earlier what they would like to do and what they would not want doing.
“Starting this year, the management of the RT Arabic editorial office decided to pay more attention to the development of educational projects, including programmes aimed at Arabic language students. In February, we already had the experience of conducting a student internship with the participation of students from Lobachevsky University, who demonstrated a commendable level of Arabic language skills. Very often, the main focus in language learning in universities is on theory, and less attention is paid to the practical component. That is why we invite students of Arabic for internship at our channel, where they will be able not only to familiarize themselves with the professional activities of TV staff, but we will also give them a chance to try themselves as presenters and correspondents, expand their knowledge and improve their command of the Arabic language in direct communication with its speakers. In my opinion, such an experience will be an additional incentive for students to learn the language and will help them decide whether they want to build their future career in media,” Sandra Fahmy concluded.
As we reported earlier, from 9 to 22 February six students of the UNN Institute of International Relations and World History undertook a practice-oriented educational internship at the RT TV Arabic editorial department in Moscow. Along with students from Nizhny Novgorod, the educational programme at the TV channel was attended by students from various universities of Moscow, Kazan and Pyatigorsk. The programme of the practical training session included familiarization with the activities of RT Arabic, excursions, master classes, Arabic language intensive lessons, and workshops on different types of translation.
