Russian Language and Culture Summer School was managed by Samara University from July 19 - August 1, 2023. The summer school was established and arranged by the Center of International Short-term Educational Programs (Summer School Team).

The program started with a formal opening ceremony with vice-rector for academic affairs and excursion to the Aircraft Engines History Center. Afterwards, students enjoyed a three hour team building to meet each other and make new friends with volunteers.

The main aim of the summer school is to learn Russian language and Russian traditions and culture. With a brilliant mentorship of PhD in Philology and associate professor Inna Shumkina participants studied Russian alphabet, vowels and consonants, numerals, phrases, small texts and songs. All classes were interactive and entertaining and started with the welcoming song ‘Zdravstvuyte!’ and ended up with the goodbye song ‘Do svidaniya!’. The final project of the program included scenes on Russian language and presentations of similarities and differences between Russia and China. Studying can be fun and engaging!

The summer school program included other subjects such as Russian History by professor Alexander Okun’ where students learned the long history of the Russian government and researched the relationship between China and Russia. Ekaterina Loktionova taught a Russian Traditions class and Prokhor Almurzin told about Russian Technologies.

The most exciting and memorable event was a visit to the training airfield on July 21, 2023. The head of the airfield conducted a sightseeing tour for the participants. Also, participants could see the launch of aircraft and helicopter engines!

The social program of the summer school consisted of excursions to the Smart House of Butterflies, Volga Museum of Railway, Museum of Aviation and Cosmonautics, Botanic Garden, tour around Samara city etc. Students attended the ethnographic museum at school № 3 and visited the master class of knitting Russian folk dolls ‘martenicnki’. By the end, all guests created their own dolls that symbolized the winter (the white doll) and spring (the red one). Participants got acquainted with another traditional doll called ‘matryoshka’ and painted their own design on a wooden sample. So students derived some extra souvenirs from Russia!

Students were awarded with 4 ECTS certificates for the successful completion of the summer school and were gifted 3D printed rockets as a present from the Summer School Team.

For your reference:
Russian Language and Culture Summer School has been taking place at Samara University since 2019. The program can be conducted both on-campus and online. To get acquainted, please follow the Russian Language and Culture page to review the syllabus and details.