Russian language abroad: International conference brings together Russian language teachers from CIS countries and India to New Delhi

The International Conference of Russian language teachers “India and Russia in the third millennium: dialogue of cultures” was held on September 15 - 17 2010 in New Delhi, India. The conference was jointly organized by the Indian Association of Teachers of Russian language and Literature (INDAPRYAL) and the International Association of Teachers of Russian language and Literature (MAPRYAL), and the Federal Agency on the CIS, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) in New Delhi. The scientific forum attracted over 80 representatives of philological elite of India, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Uzbekistan. The conference also brought together guests from the UK, Mongolia and Latvia.

President of MAPRYAL, President of the St. Petersburg State university, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of “Russkiy Mir” Foundation, Academician of the Russian Academy of Education, L.A. Verbitskaya submitted a written address to participants of the event where she expressed high hopes that Russian language teachers in India would become Russia’s dependable partner for dissemination and development of Russian language and culture.

The International conference of Russian language teachers took place in the capital of India for the third time. Its aim – is to unite Indian and foreign specialists in teaching Russian language and literature, create a forum for discussion of new textbooks, urgent problems of learning and teaching Russian language, Russian literature and Russian culture in India and abroad, and for sharing pedagogical expertise, and scientific and methodological findings.

The academic part of the event took place at the Russian Center of Science and Culture and included 27 reports. Participants turned the spotlight on historical processes of interpenetration of Russian and Indian cultures, influence of Russian literature on intelligentsia of India, urgent problems of Indo-Russian cooperation in the Humanities research. There were works providing the analysis of the modern Russian literature and, in particular, modern women’s prose, as well as applied aspects of the theory of Russian as a foreign language teaching.