Bashkiria residents show more interest in Italian language and culture

UFA, 13 December 2019. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/.

The head of the education department of the Consulate General of Italy in Moscow, Giuseppe Lo Porto, who also heads the special Italian Language Spreading Program (PRIA) in Russia visited the leading universities of Ufa and school-lyceum No. 160. The meetings took place on the sidelines of the program of the Russian-Italian film festival RIFF, which takes place in the “ART Gallery” in Ufa from December 5 to 15. Communication with students and teachers of Bashkir universities was devoted to the possibilities of Russian-Italian cooperation in the field of professional education and the expansion of the Italian language study in Russia today.

Several universities of the republic already have cooperation agreements with some Italian universities. In particular, there is the experience of the Ufa State Institute of Arts, where students of the opera department study the "language of opera" for performing Italian arias. The Italian concern Cremonini opened a "Cremonini School" at the Bashkir State Agrarian University and special courses to teach students the principles of cattle care and other farming sciences accepted in Europe. A professor from Turin gave lectures on topics of behavior in extreme situations and in case of a terrorist threat at the Department of Psychology of the Bashkir State Pedagogical University in Ufa.

At the Bashkir State Agrarian University, Giuseppe Lo Porto familiarized himself with the university’s activities in preparing for the examination of the European Association of Veterinary Education Institutions (ESEVT) to assess the compliance of the Veterinary Medicine curriculum with international and European quality standards, with new opportunities for cooperation, and visited museums of anatomy and beekeeping.

Giuseppe Lo Porto met with staff and students of the Faculty of Psychology at M. Akmulla Bashkir State Pedagogical University. Speaking to students, the diplomat paid great attention to opportunities for student exchange with Italian universities, joint research, and the introduction of Italian language teaching at the university, which was currently preparing to establish partnerships with the University of Turin.

“Recently, about 300 people a year have been studying Italian in Ufa, while privately, without state support. Interest in this language and in this country as a whole is growing every year. Unfortunately, the Italian language has not yet been studied as a second foreign language in the universities of the republic, with the exception of the Ufa State Institute of Arts, and, in my opinion, it is worth introducing it into higher education programs, ” said the organizer of the meetings of the representative of the Italy Consulate General in Ufa universities Gulchachak Hannanova.

The meeting in Ufa Lyceum School No. 160 turned out to be interesting and memorable, where the Italian language was included in the school curriculum for the first time in the history of the republic from September 1 of this year. Now, 35 pupils of the 5th grade study it here as a second foreign language. Giuseppe Lo Porto attended an Italian language lesson and donated a set of dictionaries, books, and board games for the school library to the lyceum school. With representatives of the Ufa city department of national education and the leadership of the lyceum school, he discussed the prospects and possible new forms of language teaching, involving Ufa in a network of school competitions, festivals of Italian culture, competitions, tourist landings and other similar events that have long covered many cities of Russia.

As the participants in the meetings concluded, the next steps should be made - in particular, the creation of an Italian center in Ufa, which would focus on language courses, conferences for the exchange of experience, and actions to develop cooperation in various fields.