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A team of moderators of TSU language speaking clubs took part in the All-Russia Forum for leaders and enthusiasts of clubs fostering friendship between nations «Russian as a foreign language» in Barnaul on November 28-30. The leader of the team was Valentina Manashova, an assistant at the Department of Russian as a foreign language. Other members of the team were Carolina Botteschi, a lecturer at the Department of English Philology, Yousef Abouelata and Mina Mikhaeil, students of the TSU Higher IT school.

The Forum was organized by the Altai State Pedagogical University with the support of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodyozh) and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation. The Forum focused on exchanging successful practices in the development of international and interregional cooperation, as well as on searching for the best practices of sociocultural and linguistic adaptation of foreign students in the Russian educational space. The Forum's experts were the representatives of various international centers. Trainings, workshops, discussions, meetings with experts, presentations of the best practices by participating teams, development and defense of projects, and other events of the Forum were aimed at developing a model for the effective work of international friendship clubs.

«At the Forum, we presented our video about the Russian Speaking Club for international students,» said Valentina Manashova. «It turned out that the Forum featured mainly international clubs of universities where both Russian and foreign students organize various events and holidays. At our university, the language speaking clubs of the International Resource Center of the Research Library are organized according to languages. Now there are clubs in 12 different languages. So we shared our experience.»

There was also a roundtable discussion for the leaders of international friendship clubs «Sociocultural and linguistic adaptation of foreign students in the Russian educational space». Representatives of universities from different regions across Russia, intercultural communication experts, mentors, coordinators, and teachers of Russian as a foreign language participated in the discussion. It focused on the problems faced by foreign students when adapting to studying and living in Russia. Valentina Manashova was among the experts in the discussion. Another member of the team, Carolina Botteschi, a moderator of the Italian and English clubs, also spoke there. She talked about the problems she encountered when moving to Russia and how she dealt with them.

«Participation in the Forum was not only a valuable professional experience for me, but also a source of inspiration,» said Carolina. «Thanks to its rich program, I learnt about different approaches aimed at fostering an inclusive environment and strengthening intercultural dialogue. The constructive discussions and other activities were extremely informative. The Forum allowed me to deepen my knowledge in the field of organization and development of international clubs and to improve my competence in project management.»

For students the Forum offered trainings, game and educational platforms: «How to create your own project?», «Applied game», «Create your own podcast», «Neural networks», etc. The creative energy of the participants was then transformed into ideas for their original projects: «INO-Guide: Your Assistant in Russia», «Student PlatForm: Communication, Information, Community», «Not Alone at Home». These and other projects were presented when discussing the «Model of the International Friendship Club».

Yousef Abouelata and Mina Mikhaeil presented their project «INO-sport» which aims to realize the sports potential of foreign students, as well as help foreign student-athletes to adapt in Russia.

They did not come up with this idea spontaneously. They have been studying at Tomsk State University for several years already and know the problems of adaptation of foreign students inside out. Yousef Abouelata is the moderator of the Arabic House club, and Mina Mikhaeil is the initiator of the International Games Club Ad hoc. After the Forum, Mina and Yousef shared their impressions. They turned out to be quite similar.

«It was the first time I participated in the Forum,» noted Yousef Abouelata. «I enjoyed it very much. The Forum was interesting and informative. I met many students from different Russian cities, and we spent unforgettable moments together. It inspires and motivates me to continue studying the Russian language and culture.»

«The first impressions are all positive,» confirms Mina Mikhaeil. «We were teamed up with students from other cities and universities, which helped us to get to know each other better. I am looking forward to the next tasks from the Forum organizers and while I am communicating with the guys, I am gaining new knowledge about culture in different Russian cities and in other countries.»

Summing up the results of participation in the Forum, Valentina Manashova also noted that during the three days of such intensive program everyone learnt a lot of new and interesting things and met their colleagues from other regions.

«One more important thing is that an interactive map ‘Student International Friendship Clubs Association’ was created,» emphasized Valentina. «The map includes information about clubs’ activities and presentation of the best practices in the development of international and interregional cooperation. Thus, it will be easy to find partners for joint projects and share experience.»

Valentina Manashova, Carolina Botteschi, Yousef Abouelata and Mina Mikhaeil expressed their deep gratitude to the Tomsk State University administration and International Division for the financial support of their participation in the Forum.

Photo courtesy of Valentina Manashova