Alumni Anna Little (2015) blogs about the 28th Annual International Scientific Conference: “Language and Culture” Tomsk, Siberia

The 28th Annual International Scientific Conference: “Language and Culture”
Tomsk, Siberia

When I first started at Stamford High School in 2008 I was fascinated by the world of codes and code breaking. I’ll admit that I loved algebra and English literature as both classes gave me the opportunity to find hidden meanings, whether it be through finding the value of x or the connotations of a literary technique. However, this didn’t fully satisfy my code breaking curiosity. During form time in Year 8, Mrs Wray presented to our class a sheet with strange symbols and shapes and it annoyed and fascinated me all at the same time because I could neither read nor understand these hieroglyphics. This was the first time I had encountered the Russian language. Little did I know that eight years later I would be living in the middle of Siberia and presenting at a prestigious international science conference on the topic of breaking the Russian language code as a non-native speaker.

I am currently in my third year at Durham University, which for students studying Modern Languages and Cultures is the year that you spend living abroad. Personally, I wanted to have a genuine Russian experience and so chose not to spend my time in the tourist cities of St Petersburg and Moscow. Instead, I am studying Russian at Tomsk State University (TSU) in Siberia, which is a small city located 3625km east of Moscow. Despite its size, Tomsk is home to six universities with one, TSU, renowned for its top ranking Foreign Language department. My studies here consist of 22 contact hours a week with lectures on grammar, lexicology, translation, speaking, Soviet cinema, literature, and journalism.
Between the 25th and 27th September 2017, TSU played host to the 28th Annual International Scientific Conference, which this year was focused on the theme of ‘Language and Culture’. Internationally renowned academics and university professors travelled from a variety of countries to participate in the conference. I had the pleasure of attending the first lecture in which talks were given on the language of Pushkin in the twenty-first century, the importance of breaking language barriers in order to reduce racism (something that I have become particularly passionate about as a result of the conference), and the psychology behind language learning. Even though the talks were taking place in Russian, I was still able to understand the majority of what was being said and from this my confidence in my language learning bloomed.

On the second day of the conference, I was invited to present a report about life as a foreign student in Siberia and the process of learning Russian as a non-native speaker. It was a nerve-wracking experience as it was the first time that I had presented in Russian to such a large audience, which mainly consisted of native Russian academics… Gulp! However, this experience has become one of the highlights of my time here so far. At the end of my speech there was a section for questions and it was fascinating to me to see just how many people were interested in discovering more about Russian learning in the West, and the English culture in general. If I could give one piece of advice to anyone taking their year abroad at the moment or are planning on taking one in the coming years, it’s take every single opportunity that comes your way even if it may seem a little scary at first. It is these moments on your journey that will open up some really exciting doors for you, whether it be connected to finding a new passion or merely demonstrating how far you have travelled in your journey so far.

Anna Little (2015)