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The works of contestants from China, Romania and Cyprus were recognized the best in the essay contest entitled Letter to a friend: why study Russian? The organizing committee received work from more than 250 participants from 39 countries, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute reports on its website.
The jury has chosen works of Krina Grini Yonela from Romania, Liu Huazen from China and Vladimir Gorin, who represented Cyprus. According to experts, they were the ones who managed to use the most convincing and eloquent arguments in favor of learning Russian. The jury awarded ten more works from Italy, Turkey, Poland, Serbia and Cuba with certificates.
The winner from Romania studies Slavic languages at the University of Bucharest and specializes in Russia and the countries of central and eastern Europe. Krina Grini wrote that her love for Russian literature prompted her to learn Russian. The girl called it "the standard of beauty and melody." In her essay, the contestant elaborated on the imperfection of any translation which failed to convey all the meaning and its shades implied by author. Therefore, in order to fully understand the works of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy or Chekhov, it is necessary to read them in the original.
A student of Dalian University of Foreign Languages, Liu Huazen stated that participation in the All-China Russian Language Competition convinced him to continue his studies. He described with great humour how he trained the pronunciation of the letter "p" on the lake in front of the ducks. According to the student, the Russian language made him smarter and helped him to increase self-confidence.
The third winner, Vladimir Gorin, confessed that the knowledge of Russian helped to find friends and like-minded people. A citizen of Cyprus devoted his essay to the Russian nature, especially to the winter landscape - the frozen reservoirs and the snow-covered forests.
Russkiy Mir
