THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when the Russian language is gaining prominence across educational institutions in the country, the Altai State Pedagogical University in Russia is planning to collaborate with colleges and universities in Kerala to promote the language and undertake student exchange programmes.
“Students in Kerala are very interested to study Russian and learn about the country’s culture. Also, many students back in Russia are enthusiastic to travel to India, especially Kerala. This collaboration will help in making internship opportunities accessible to students of both countries and promote Russian,” said Yana Filippova, professor at the Linguistic Institute of the varsity. She was at the Russian Culture Centre in the city to talk about the student exchange programmes and the institute’s plans to offer three-month or half-year courses in the language to students from Kerala.
Yana, who was selected the Eurasia Beauty Queen last year, is the goodwill ambassador of Kerala Travel Mart Society for Russia. “After winning the contest last year, I had several discussions with the Russian Culture Centre in Thiruvananthapuram which was also interested in collaborating and promoting student exchange programmes,” said Yana. She is currently teaching English and British phonetics to aspiring interpreters at the Altai university.
“We are now charting methodologies on how to take the collaboration forward. Many Indians studying in Russia choose technical universities. We plan to offer language courses at our university. One significant outcome of starting Russian language classes in Kerala is the possibility of opening up employment opportunities for Indians in Russian cities.”
Yana also pointed out that the collaboration will not only help the movement of Russian students to Kerala but also benefit the tourism and hospitality sector if guides are trained in the language. Kerala records a large influx of Russian tourists who visit for various ayurveda and yoga treatments. Yana also participated in the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Indo-Russian Women’s Forum.