Upon Returning from Faraway China

Dr. Tatyana Ivashkovich, an Associate Professor of Astrakhan State University, has been teaching Russian as a foreign language at Sichuan University (Chengdu, China).

For several years, the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures of Sichuan University and Astrakhan State University have been developing their mutual relations in the field of students’ and professors’ academic mobility. The College of Foreign Languages and Cultures of Sichuan University is a young and a prestigious educational institution in China; its faculty staff includes both Chinese and foreign professors.

In spring 2015, Dr. Ivashkovich, an Associate Professor of the Chair of Modern Russian Language of Astrakhan State University, taught Russian as a foreign language at the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures in Chengdu. Applying active teaching techniques, she taught her Chinese students basic Russian speech. Her students had to learn how to pronounce Russian tongue-twisters, to use the right Russian intonation and pronunciation, especially those sounds that are absent in the Chinese language. As Dr. Ivashkovich says, her students treated their studies of Russian in earnest; they were disciplined and highly interested; they attended each and every class and even arrived an hour before a class was to begin. They liked making up dialogues in Russian, reading and reciting texts, and doing exercises in a written form.

Administration of the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures in Chengdu gives a good feedback about professors of Astrakhan State University. The Russian Department of the College is to become its special, separate unit. This is due to friendly relations between Russia and China. The Chengdu College Administration is planning to increase the number of students for its Russian Department. Thus, cooperation with Sichuan University shall definitely be promising and productive for our University.

Russian original information source: Alexey Paripa (the Department of Philology & Journalism of ASU)

Russian original photo source: T.I. Ivashkovich