Sophia Bischof and Sasha Mowat, students from the universities in Berlin and Edinburgh, are currently in Armenia to continue their education, enhance their professional skills and deepen their knowledge of Russian.
Diana Gazarova, Dean of the YSU Faculty of Russian Philology, Candidate of Philological Sciences and Associate Professor, presented the foreign students studying at the faculty this semester: "Currently, we have 9 foreign students studying at the faculty under the Erasmus+ program, 7 of them are from the USA, and 2 are from universities of Berlin and Edinburgh. The latter participate in courses alongside undergraduate students of the Russian Philology Faculty. Hosted students chose various courses: "History of 19th-Century Russian Literature", "Lexicology of Modern Russian Language", "Morphology of Modern Russian Language" and "History of Russia". By the way, in their home universities, students learned Russian as a foreign language, while at YSU, as future philologists, they have the opportunity to study the Russian language in depth."
To ensure effective study, foreign students' course selections are made collaboratively with lecturers, taking into account the students' preferences.
The dean pointed out that the selected courses are periodically reviewed to develop educational programs in line with modern standards. The most recent changes were made in 2023.
"Finding out the advantages and disadvantages of programs, we always try to take into account the level of knowledge gained by the students and align the programs with the modern labor market demands. As part of the international cooperation, our lecturers are regularly trained in foreign universities and also visit foreign universities as guest lecturers," noted Diana Gazarova.
In the interview with us, Sasha Mowat, from Scotland, mentioned that she is studying Russian at the University of Edinburgh. One of the requirements of her 4-year program is to advance her knowledge of Russian by studying in another country for one year during her third year.
"In the first semester, I improved my knowledge of Russian in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, and for the second semester, I chose Armenia. I had never been here before, and the country intrigued me for this reason as well. The University of Edinburgh, where I study, had never sent students to YSU, so I thought that my experience would be a good opportunity to inform my university about YSU's educational programs and teaching approaches.
Sasha Mowat is studying "Introduction to Literary Studies", "History of 19th-Century Russian Literature" and "History of Russia" at YSU. Although she is not yet sure what path she will choose after graduation, she would like to work in a Russian-speaking environment.
"My studies here are effective, but since Russian is not my mother tongue, it is somewhat challenging for me. Apart from classes, I do additional training so that I can fully understand the material presented by the lecturers," said Sasha Mowat, emphasizing that the biggest difficulty at YSU is the duration of classes; unlike YSU's 80-minute class periods, in Edinburgh class periods are only 50 minutes long.
Presenting the educational process, she emphasized that it is easy to concentrate, as the lessons are very interesting. She noted that they use a smart board during the course "History of Russia", which makes the lessons more comprehensible and interactive.
Speaking about Armenia, Sasha Mowat noted that although she had never been in Armenia before, her father had visited our country several times.
"My father always described Armenia as a fascinating country. I also loved Armenia, particularly Yerevan; I can’t compare it to any other country I’ve ever visited. Besides, Yerevan is an excellent environment for me to improve my Russian skills. I liked Armenian culture, cuisine, and weather as well; it is much warmer here than in Great Britain. Armenia exudes warmth, hospitality and unworldly nature," said the foreign student.
Sophia Bischof, from the Humboldt University of Berlin, is studying "Lexicology of Modern Russian Language" and "Morphology of Modern Russian Language" at YSU Faculty of Russian Philology. Additionally, she is enrolled in the individual course "Practical Russian".
"People in Armenia speak Russian fluently, so I improve my language skills not only during classes but also in everyday life. I have both Armenian and foreign friends at the Faculty of Russian Philology. My fellow students are very friendly and help me when needed," said Sophia Bischof.
Among the differences between Humboldt University of Berlin and YSU, she singled out the way of organizing academic education; at YSU there is a structured schedule with a lot of lectures and homework assignments, while in Germany they mostly read academic texts and have discussions in seminars.
"I greatly appreciate that all the lessons at the Russian Philology Faculty are conducted in Russian; it’s a good challenge for me to fully delve into the language," summed up Sofia Bischoff.
YSU continues to host students from different countries as part of the Erasmus+ Exchange Program.
