Seminars

April 28 - May 1, 2010 in Rotterdam (the Netherlands), took place the second meeting of partners of  the project “Sputnik”.

The seminar was attended by partners from three countries: the Netherlands, Slovenia and France.

Partners[1] of Great Britain, Spain and Cyprus were not able to attend the seminar due to unforeseen circumstances associated with the effects of volcanic eruptions in Iceland.

A delegation included heads of organizations, teachers and students. The seminar was attended by more than 20 people.

The workshop program included:

• 2 presentations from Sweden and Latvia on the topic of the seminar;
• a workshop for students;
• a round table to discuss organizational matters for the project;
• a cultural programme.

During the workshop the announced program has been fully implemented.

The scheduled meeting with representatives from Sweden and Latvia on the topic of the seminar "Russian Language in Europe: new technologies and interactive approach to teaching adults" could not take place due to weather conditions and impossibility for the invited guests to attend in person.

Nevertheless, the speaker from Sweden sent interactive games that can be used for Russian lessons with different objectives: increase vocabulary, develop conversational speech and articulation, self-development, etc.

One of the submitted games - "Language leads to Kiev" was presented at the seminar by Olga Shterenshis. This game as well as the rest of the games sent,  will be uploaded on  the website of the project sputnik.russchool.eu and can be used by all partners in their work, and, if necessary, will be included in the handbook "Sputnik".

The speaker from Latvia – Aleksandr Sokol, PhD was contacted via Skype. The seminar participants were offered information about the possibility of such an approach to language teaching, in particular, the introduction of innovations in teaching Russian language, aimed at creating a system of tasks for working with text, which allow to develop not only linguistic, but also thinking skills of students.

The presentation provoked a lively discussion.

A link to the TA group will also be posted on the site for future use by the  partners.

As part of a workshop for students, Maria Trofimova PhD, offered a presentation on "Resources of the Russian language." The presentation will be published on the website sputnik.russchool.eu

The round table was attended only by the heads of delegations from France and Slovenia. Due to unforeseen circumstances associated with the effects of a volcanic eruption in Iceland, the plans of partners from Spain and Cyprus was announced by Igor Zhukovsky, the project coordinator.

The heads of delegations discussed the project achievements and results, they also arose the difficulties met during the project, and plans on the further work for the project.

They have also defined the calendar of the upcoming seminars:

• UK - 4-7 November 2010, the theme of the seminar  is "Educational space of the Russian language in Europe and its specificity for adults"
• Slovenia - March 8-10, 2011, the theme of the seminar is "The Russian language as the key to success in business."

The seminar in Spain is scheduled for May and June 2011.Topics and dates of seminars in Spain and Cyprus will be specified by the project leaders of these countries later.

Partners from France briefed colleagues on the concept they have developed for the textbook aimed at teaching students the basics of communication. The head of Delegation of Slovenia, reported on working on a textbook aimed at teaching students the basics of business communication. Partners from the Netherlands produced the Internet website sputnik.russchool.eu, where it is possible, not only to publish the project, but also create a platform for testing and use (under development) techniques, exchange of teachers, communication between students, etc. Partners from Spain provided information on the preparation of an interactive quiz, "Russian in Europe." Partners of Cyprus work on a short educational film.

The cultural programme included a trip on a river boat to the harbour of Rotterdam and the visit of the Flower Park "Keukenhof".

The project manager from the Netherlands, and Netherlands project participants and volunteers who helped in organizing the seminar, thanked all participants and partners for their openness and genuine interest.

[1] Meeting with representatives of Spain took place on 28 May 2010. The dates of  meetings with representatives from other countries will be announced later.