3rd Student Olympiad in Arabic Language in Russia’s Kazan University indicate growing interest in learning Arabic by foreigners

Arabic language is one of the world’s most important languages and has been rated as one of the four most commonly spoken. The awareness of the importance of Arabic language has increased which has led to many studies and research on methods of teaching Arabic for non-native Arabic speakers.

The Arab Culture Center “Al-Hadara” (civilization) at the International Relations Department of Kazan Federal University in Russia has recently held the 3rd Student Olympiad in Arabic Language with the participation of a number of non-native Arabic speakers from different Russian cities.

 A cultural festivity was held to honor the winners in the Olympiad with the participation of the Syrian Ambassador to Russia Dr. Riyad Haddad, a number of officials as well as a number of Arabic language teachers and researchers from Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Armenia, Uzbekistan and other countries.

Shedding light on the cultural festivity, Syria Times conducted an online interview with Nour Mansour a Syrian participant in the cultural festivity, who trained the Russian students in cooperation with other Arab youths to perform different artistic show.

“The last two decades have witnessed an increasing demand by speakers of other languages to learn Arabic for different reasons, including enhancing awareness about Arabic culture and its rich heritage,” Mansour said.

She clarified that the Arabic language Olympiad is an annual contest testing Arabic language abilities of the Russian students at the Kazan Federal University in Russia, who are keen on learning Arabic language.

Mansour underscored that the Arabic language Olympiad aims at strengthening the Russian students’ interest in learning Arabic and building cultural bridges between Arab students studying at Kazan University and students of diverse nationalities.

“The winners in the Olympiad were divided into groups to hold a contest, during which every group represented an Arab country’s civilization and culture and presented its traditions, folk  food, singing, dancing and poetry and exhibited it heritage” Mansour explained.

” The Russian students group, which won the first position, represented Syria. The Syrian youths who trained them were very proud because they haven’t only taught them Arabic language but also provided the Russian students with a chance to know the Syrian deep-rooted culture and civilization,” Mansour said.

It is noteworthy to mention that Nour Mansour gained the first position in the “youth scientists competition” held last April on the sidelines of the international scientific conference held in the Russian city of Kazan.

Mansour was born in Lattakia in 1994. She graduated from the university of Damascus with a degree of pharmacy and she is currently a first-year Ph.D . Student in Kazan Federal University.

Interviewed by Rawaa Ghanam