On April 3, Saratov University hosted the Interuniversity Linguistic and Regional Studies Olympiad in the Russian language titled the Mosaic of the Russian Word. More than 80 students of the following Saratov universities took part in it: SSU, SSAL, SSMU, SSC, PIM, and SSTU. Among those who decided to test their knowledge were students from Algeria, Haiti, Iraq, China, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and other countries.

It should be noted that the Olympiad was held on the eve of the Second Festival RFL at SSU, which will be held on the basis of the university from 14 to 15 April. The festival program includes a series of educational meetings: a round table titled the Teaching RFL in a pandemic: lessons and best practices, a master class – the Experience in teaching RFL abroad, and an interactive linguistic and cultural game named Can't you understand Russia with your mind alone? In addition, foreign students will be able to attend the Alexander Pushkin Eugene Onegin performance. Chapter 5 performed by the leading master of the stage of the Youth Theater named after Yu.P. Kiseleva T.P. Chupikova. An online lecture on the topic “Russian mentality in language, speech and scientific discourse” will be organized for teachers of RFL and students who are just mastering their future profession. It will be read by Professor of the Department of Intercultural Communication of the Institute of Russian Language and Culture, Moscow State University named T.E. Vladimirova.

Within the framework of the Olympiad preceding the festival, Director of the Institute for Philology and Journalism, SSU, Lyudmila Borisova welcomed the audience. She noted, ‘For the first time we held the" RCI at SSU "festival two years ago. Since then, our life has changed a lot, the methods and approaches in teaching the Russian language have changed, so our festival this year will be largely devoted to the problems of distance learning of Russian as a foreign language.’

The next participants were greeted by SSU Vice-Rector for International Affairs Dmitrii Konakov. He spoke about the tasks set by the staff of the Saratov University, being at the origins of the festival. ‘The first goal is to popularize the Russian language and socio-cultural adaptation of foreign students studying both at our university and in other Saratov universities. The second is an attempt to create a platform for professional exchange of experience among teachers of RFL.’

Chair of the Department of Russian Language, Speech Communication, and Russian as a Foreign Language Alla Bajkulova, in turn, emphasized that the university teachers are happy to observe the continuity of generations showing love and interest in the Russian language. ‘It is very pleasant that now our teachers from different universities in Saratov are here. Many of them are our students. We brought them up, and now they work not only in our city, but also in different countries of the world.’

According to the organizers of the intellectual competition, the results of the Olympiad will become known on April 14 and will be posted on the Saratov University website. The winners, who won prizes, as well as their teachers, will be invited to receive awards at the closing ceremony of the Second Festival RFL at SSU, which will take place on 15 April.