Russian as a foreign language: RUDN students speak about Russia and Russian

RUDN students Guy-Donald Dorsainvil from Haiti and Hashem Nassar from Lebanon won the university’s olympiad in Russian as a foreign language. In this interview they talk about studying in Russia and difficulties in learning the Russian language.

What does Russian mean to you? What are your first associations?

Donald: This is one of the richest and most beautiful languages. My associations are unity, work, power, and strength.

Hashem: This is my career and work. I’m planning to stay in Russia or find a job in a Russian company in Lebanon. The Russian language is very popular in my country. My first association is Dostoevsky.

Many people think that Russian is one of the most complicated languages. Do you think it’s true?

Donald: Yes, Russian is difficult, but also beautiful and nice to hear. The worst part is the huge amount of synonyms, which are hard to remember.

Hashem: The Russian language is truly hard, but interesting and rich. The hardest thing is the beginning – the alphabet, pronunciation, cases.

Why did you decide to study in Russia?

Donald: My close friends studied in RUDN, they recommended it and said that the level of education is high here. They have graduated and now they work in Russia.

Hashem: I planned to study in Lebanon, but my father influenced my decision. He suggested going to Russia and learning Russian. I thought, why not? – and here I am already a few years. Of course, it took me time to adapt, learn the language and just get to know the culture. It was hard, but I did it.