St Petersburg University opens Russian language courses for residents of South Africa

St Petersburg State University (SPbSU) has launched a Russian language course in South Africa. The project was implemented by the Language Testing Centre of SPbSU with the support of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in South Africa. This was reported by Piterets.ru portal.

It is noted that the first 50 South African trainees have already started learning Russian from the very beginning, from the basics. More than 500 people wanted to learn a new language - that's how many applications for training were submitted in South Africa.

The education process runs in a distance learning format. The programme has several aims, among which the main one is the promotion of the Russian language. In addition, an important mission of the project is to create additional opportunities for career guidance work.

Dmitry Ptyushkin, director of the Language Testing Centre of St. Petersburg State University, said that it took only six months from when the idea for a Russian language course for students from South Africa arose to the realisation of the project.

He added that Lesotho, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Indonesia and Mongolia would soon launch similar programmes. Ptyushkin mentioned that there were over a thousand applications from these countries in total.

"Today, the Russian language for foreigners is also a tool to improve their lives and get better jobs," he said, adding that learning Russian opens up the opportunity for residents of these countries to immerse themselves in another culture.

The expert also stressed that interest in learning the Russian language is constantly growing.

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