MGIMO Language Buddies Grand Opening

A festival dedicated to the opening of the MGIMO Language Buddies project took place in the MGIMO Atrium of the new MGIMO building on October 18. This project is aimed at introducing foreign native-speaking students to language departments, country and regional clubs of the University’s Scientific Student Society («NSO»), international structures of the University Students’ Union, as well as Russian-speaking students studying foreign languages. The event was organised by The MGIMO School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA) in cooperation with the Language Training Department of the University.

The official part of the festival, held in English, began with a welcoming word from Vasily Taran, Acting Deputy Dean of SGIA. Then the presentation of regional and country clubs of the University took place also in English: German Studies Club, Middle East Club, Balkan Club, Ibero-American Club, Chinese Club, East European Studies Club. A special guest of the event was a representative of the MGIMO Student Union’s department for international students StudInter, which was established this year. The representatives of the clubs spoke about the activities and future plans of their associations, inviting everyone present to take part in future activities organised by them.

The event also included a presentation of the revitalised first English-speaking club based at SGIA: Future World Diplomats. The new composition of the club, as well as an overview of the plans for the semester were announced by the new team of this association, led by the appointed chairperson.

The event continued with informal interaction among the participants in more than 15 native languages of the SGIA student speakers represented at the festival: German, Hungarian, Slovak, Hindi, Swahili, Spanish, English, Bulgarian, Romanian, Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, French, Chinese and Italian.

For international students, participation in MGIMO Language Buddies was a great opportunity to learn a lot about MGIMO students’ extracurricular activities, find friends to communicate in Russian, as well as represent their native region and talk about their country’s culture. Russian-speaking students of the University got a chance to practise their foreign language skills and expand their circle of contacts within the NSO and the Student Union.

The Language Training Department and SGIA would like to thank the colleagues from the Departments of German, French, English, Chinese, Spanish as well as the Departments of Middle Eastern Languages, Central and South-Eastern European Languages, Romance Languages, Indo-Iranian Languages and African Languages for their help in organising the event.

School of Government and International Affairs
MGIMO Language Training Department