Garima from India: ‘I want to become a Russian language teacher’
The young lady started learning Russian out of curiosity, but ended up connecting her life with the language.
Garima is a first-year student at the Philological Faculty of the State Pushkin Institute of the Russian Language in Moscow. After graduation, she wants to return to her homeland and teach Russian herself.
Why Russian?
“There is a Sanskrit language in my country. Did you know that Sanskrit and Russian belong to the same language family?” Garima says. Although these two languages seem quite far from each other, they have common roots, as they both belong to the Indo-European language family. So, Garima wanted to explore their similarities and differences.
“For example, I like the Russian word ‘брат’ (‘brat’, which means ‘brother’). We have a similar (sounding) word in Sanskrit.”
Garima has been studying Russian for almost three years now. She started her master's degree at the University of Delhi and, now, she is studying in Moscow at the Pushkin Institute and is going to get a PhD.
“I love the Russian language for its rich history, literature, culture and, besides, I like the way it sounds,” the Indian says.
Difficulties of the Russian language
Just like many other foreigners studying Russian, Garima admits that the most difficult thing is dealing with verbs. Aspects (perfect and imperfect forms of verbs), as well as verbs with prefixes, are especially difficult to comprehend. Sometimes, the prefix completely changes the meaning of the verb, even to the opposite.
Garima in Moscow
Another pain is the stress in words, because there is no logic where they should be put, you just need to remember.
One of the most complicated things in the Russian language are cases (there are six of them and you need to change the word form for each of them!).
Garima recalls a funny incident that happened to her in Moscow: “One day, in a cafe, I ordered ‘чай без сахара и без чая’ – tea without sugar and without tea, instead of ‘чай без сахара’ – tea without sugar. Everyone laughed!”
Why decided study in Moscow
Garima says she really enjoys living and studying in Moscow. She learned about the Pushkin Institute of the Russian Language back in her homeland. Many students from India enroll there to learn the language.
“Everyone knows that this is the best place to learn Russian in Moscow and even in the whole of Russia,” she proudly says.
Garima posing in front of the Pushkin Institute
Russian is what Garima wants to connect her life with and, after graduation, she wants to become a Russian teacher in India.
“Russian is not just a language for me, but it is an opportunity to study in another country and choose a profession. I also got to understand Russian literature and history better.”
Favorite Russian writer
While many students admire Pushkin, Garima admits that she fell in love with Chekhov for his short, but profound stories. She had already read several books in the original and especially liked ‘Fat and Thin’ and ‘The Death Of A Government Clerk’.
And she also really enjoyed Dostoevsky, “because he shows the inner world of a person”. So far, she has only read it in translation, as his writing is too complicated for her. But, she was delighted with the novel ‘Crime and Punishment’, from which all Russian school children suffer so much!
‘Gateway to Russia’ is grateful to the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute for its help in preparing this interview.
In order to get free education at leading Russian universities, foreigners can fill out a questionnaire and submit an application at education-in-russia.com.
You can study at the Pushkin Institute for free in the Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate programs. Read more about how to enroll at the Pushkin Institute at pushkin.institute.
Moreover, the Pushkin Institute offers additional programs for those who want to learn Russian and for professional development of teachers. In particular, the institute holds an annual Summer School for foreign citizens. Detailed information is available here: clck.ru/3DmTTq.
For questions about candidate selection in your country, please contact Rossotrudnichestvo's representative offices or diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation.
