The National Library in Rio de Janeiro will host the Terra Rusistica International Forum on 8-9 April. This is the first large-scale event in the field of Russian language learning and teaching to be held in Brazil in recent years.

The event will be attended by teachers, scholars, translators and cultural figures from Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Uruguay, Ecuador, and other countries. Presentations will be made by representatives of leading Brazilian universities and Russian experts.

Diego Leite de Oliveira, Russian language teacher at the Department of Oriental and Slavic Languages at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, noted in an exclusive commentary to TV BRICS that this forum will help to identify common interests of the participants and will contribute to the improvement of teaching and dissemination of Russian culture in Latin American countries. The specialist also suggested concrete steps to improve the quality of teaching in the region.

“Firstly, it is necessary to create conditions to increase demand for learning Russian through popularisation of Russian culture in Latin American countries. Secondly, it is important that teachers have appropriate qualifications and understand the difficulties of the language. Thirdly, it is necessary to develop quality teaching materials oriented to the regional audience,” said Leite de Oliveira.

The forum programme includes sections in the following areas: “Study of systemic processes in the Russian language and current directions of its teaching”, “Russian literature: archetypes, narratives, heroes”, “Dialogue of cultures in the context of modern translation and book publishing”. Key events will include discussions on popularisation of the Russian language in Latin America, master classes on digital methods and a round table on literary translation.

“Our task is to bring Russian and national scientific schools closer together, to introduce scientists from different countries of the world working on solving similar scientific problems, to outline new contours of cooperation between Russia and foreign countries in the field of linguistics, pedagogy, literary studies”, emphasised Natalia Brunova, General Secretary of the International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature (MAPRYAL).

Another significant event of the forum will be the founding conference of the Ibero-American Association of Slavists and Russians – a new regional association within the MAPRYAL. Its participants will be representatives of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and other countries. According to Tatyana Shlychkova, Executive Director of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, the association’s membership in MAPRYAL will contribute to the development of academic ties and the expansion of Russian language teaching at all levels

The programme will be concluded by the discussion “Tolstoy’s Word in the Modern World”, which will be attended by Vladimir Tolstoy, Director of the State Leo Tolstoy Museum, and Rubens Figueiredo, Brazilian writer, and translator.

Terra Rusistica is part of a series of scientific events organised by MAPRYAL in different states. The event is organised jointly with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro with the support of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, a partner of TV BRICS, as well as the Brazilian Government and the Ministry of Culture.

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