News in Press-centre

Visiting theatrical productions and museums becomes a traditional way of studying Russian by international students of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU). The FEFU Oriental Institute–School of Regional and International Studies (OI–SRIS) faculty note that such familiarity with the Russian culture is one of the most effective means of immersion in the language environment.

Irina Fadeeva, an Associate Professor of the OI–SRIS Department of Russian as a Foreign Language, says that a group of Chinese, Korean, Indian, and Uzbekistani nationals pursue the Philology Master's Degree Program. Their visits to the theater take place within the Stylistics of the Artistic Text discipline.

“Theater as a means of learning has its merits. It allows international students to hear the modern literary language and quickly perceive it. Last time I and my students saw Forget Herostratus play, so they got acquainted with the work of Grigory Gorin, one of the brightest contemporary Russian playwrights. All of this is undoubtedly of great educational value,” explains Irina Fadeeva.

“Russia is famous for its unique literature, which value is recognized by the whole world. We often hold cultural evenings with our teachers in Vladivostok, and have already visited several museums, the Mariinsky Theater Primorsky Stage, the Youth Theater, and the Maxim Gorky Primorsky Academic Drama Theater. Russian works of art leave a unique impression for me,” says Kasymboy Mirzaev.

Students have pointed out that such unusual activities make it possible to overcome stereotypes and open up the real, modern Russia to international visitors.

“Before going to the theater, I thought that we would go to a European-style house, but when we came to the theater, I suddenly saw the building of a modern architecture. Then, when the performance began, a second surprise was waiting for us: The actors were dressed in modern costumes, and even made selfies! In such way the directors of Forget Herostratus play decided to transfer the scenes from Ancient Greece to our days. The creativity of the theater team impressed me!” says Dan Huibo.

Today, more than 3,200 international students from 52 states are studying at Far Eastern Federal University. The Russia's leading university of the Far East is rapidly gaining popularity in the world and increasing its international competitiveness. In recent years, the number of international enrollees to FEFU has increased several-fold, and countries such as Chad, Syria, Zambia, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Brazil, Venezuela, Lebanon, Zimbabwe and others have appeared on the world map of the University students.