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Russian Language Club

The Russian Language Club

In 2016, Kalinka Russian Language Club was opened in Dublin, as an addition to the Kalinka Russian Language School. The opening of the club took place at the Grand Canal Hotel, Grand Canal Street Upper, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 . Kalinka Russian Club brings together all students of the Kalinka School and is open to students from other schools and colleges who study Russian in Dublin and who want to improve their language skills and learn more about Russian culture and traditions.

We always welcome interested guests! At Kalinka Russian Club students of different ages, backgrounds and different nationalities have a great opportunity to meet and have fun chatting in Russian in a relaxed atmosphere. Our Russian Club has ambitious cultural plans for students and club members. All participants will be able to experience a little bit of Russia, learning more about its culture and arts, about Russian history and literature, traditions and customs.

We hope that everyone who joins in finds the Kalinka Club, not only a stimulating social experience, a help towards learning about Russia, but also a great leap forward in their Russian language skills! There is always a friendly and cordial atmosphere in exploring all things Irish, European and Russian in the spirit of cooperation on the language journey.

Upcoming event: Andrej Rublev – RUSSIAN ICONOGRAPHER – his exquisite icons and frescoes.

MIKHAIL LERMONTOV

In 2024, we will celebrate the 210th birthday of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, one of the greatest Russian poets. In honour of this significant event, an international recitation competition is being held among foreign students studying Russian around the world. The competition is organized by Lomonosov Moscow State University and is called “Reading Lermontov with Foreigners”.

Several of my adult students from the Kalinka Russian Language School in Dublin are participating in this competition.

Nicole Scalan, Andrew O’Grady and John Gleave are reading Mikhail Lermontov’s poems.

We will be grateful for your comments. Thank you.

ANO DPO “Russian Language Educational Center”

#читаемлермонтова2024

Sergei Rachmaninoff: “I am a Russian composer”

”What is music…?

It’s a quiet moonlit night…

It’s the rustle of living leaves…

It’s a distant evening call…

This is what is born from the heart and goes to the heart,

This is Love.

The sister of music is poetry

And her mother is sadness.”

Sergei Rachmaninoff

On April 16, 2023, the Kalinka Russian Language Club in Dublin celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian composer, pianist and conductor Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov.

The event was dedicated to one of the most beautiful topics – the topic of music.

Namely, the music of Sergei Rachmaninov, which is loved and known on all continents and in all countries of the world.

At our meeting, the students of the “Kalinka” school and guests learned not only a lot of interesting things from the life of Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov but also enjoyed the playing of excellent young pianists who performed some of his works.

All those present watched a film about Bell music in Orthodox churches in Russia. Bell ringing is one of the most important components of Rachmaninoff’s music. The film left a lasting impression.

The hall was decorated with old photographs of Sergei Rachmaninoff, a real Russian samovar, nesting dolls and a living tree with painted eggs because the meeting of our club coincided with the great Orthodox Easter celebration.

After the presentation, everyone enjoyed talking to each other over a cup of tea and various goodies.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who took the time to come to the meeting of the club, who showed such interest in the event and helped out on the day.

Also, I want to thank Anna Kisileva, the music teacher of the young pianists. They delighted everyone present with Rachmaninov’s music: Alexandra Keane, Zoya Yu, Rebecca Yu, Dylan Keane and Aidan Keane. Their performance of Rachmaninov left everyone delighted!

Thanks to Olga Berdnikova for the photo session of the event. All the photos you see are taken by Olga.

I thank my students Tim and John for the excellent reading of poems about Rachmaninoff in Russian. Well done!

I thank my good friends Oksana O’Carroll, Tatyana and Konstantin Senkin for providing the samovar and matryoshkas (Russian dolls).

I thank my student Nicole for a very tasty cake -„Napoleon”, which she baked especially for our meeting!

I thank my student Seonid for voicing the presentation in English.

Anna Andreevna Akhmatova

Kalinka Russian Language Club meeting on the theme of poet Anna Akhmatova took place in the Ireland Institute, on Sunday, 10 November 2019.

Director of the Kalinka Language School Irina Lawless made a presentation interlaced with readings of Anna Akhmatova’s poetry in Russian and English from her students and teachers (Jamelya Magomedova and Maryna Brzozka) and renditions of Romantic Russian songs by Julia Michereva.

There was wrapt attention to Irina Lawless’s exposition of Akhmatova’s life and art from the 23 members of her audience.

Representatives of the following countries participated in the club event – from, Ireland, Russia, England, Ukraine, France, America, Bangladesh, Iraq and Byelorussia.

Afterwards, there was a lively social post-presentation chat between all concerned over tea and buns, demonstrating the power of language learning to bring people together from all backgrounds in friendly positive cooperation.

A good Sunday afternoon was had by all!  🙂

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev

 On October 27, 2018, we had our regular meeting of the Russian Language club to celebrate the 200 anniversary of the birth of the great Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, 19th-century writer, poet, journalist and translator. Natives of Ireland, Great Britain, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Slovakia, Japan, Latvia and New Zealand came together to hear about Turgenev and talk Russian.

The meeting began with a little quiz and prizes (books of Turgenev) to get everybody acquainted. The students then heard about Turgenev’s life story, looking at old photographs on a big screen. John Gleave spoke about the childhood of little Vanya Turgenev in Russian and impressed all those listening with how well he spoke Russian.

The music of Joseph Lanner, the writer’s favourite composer, then enlivened the meeting. I. S. Turgenev was very fond of music and he had a lifelong dedication to opera singer Pauline Viardot, whom he loved and remained faithful to until his death. We then listened to the lyrical poems of his early years, read by students, Valeria Skrypnichuk and Anton Archipov. Anton read Turgenev’s poem ”To which I confirm the sad day”, written by the poet in 1843. The real beauty of the lyric ”Flower” was brought to life by the reading of Valeria.

Next, students and guests enjoyed old Russian song romances of the 19th century, performed live on the day by a wonderful singer and teacher of acting skills, Julia Mikhereva. The beauty and range of her voice was a joy to behold. She performed the songs of Alyabyev ”Nightingale” and ”Foggy Morning…” in the words of Turgenev and the music of Abaza, in which the poet expressed his love for his homeland.

The final ”chords” of Turgenev’s story was a poem in prose ”How good, how fresh were the roses”. The poem in Russian was accompanied by music and was on the big screen. Then a guest Mal Lawless read the poem in English with a sad face and even sadder voice. After all that, there was a welcome break for tea. The sounds of Russian and English conversation filled the room. There were not only cakes and sweets on the table but also a real Russian cabbage pie, which vanished very quickly. For this, we must say a big thank you to the baking of Tatyana Petkova and Larissa Tolmacheva.

The Kalinka Turgenev Club meeting was held at a special time in Ireland, October, Halloween (Samhain). Students and Club members then discussed all of this. Morgan, Tim, Seonaid, Anne and David told everyone about Halloween in Russian. Then Anne and Seonaid sang a Halloween song about a ghost.

At the club’s end, everybody sang a famous Russian song in Russian ”Blue Wagon ” and everybody went home happy, looking forward to our next Kalinka Russian Language Club.

Russian Folk Singing

I remember our first meeting of the Russian club, exciting and long-awaited. I asked myself if I could interest people of different ages, and foreign students with our conversations about Russian language, literature, music, history, and Russia in general. There were a lot of worries, but as soon as our first meeting happened, proposals from the students themselves poured out what subjects they were interested in to continue the Club.

On the 4th of November, 2017 in Dublin, we had our regular meeting of friends of the Club of Russian language and Culture, which was devoted to Russian folk singing. It was an unforgettable meeting that enriched the knowledge of foreign students about Russian folk singing, traditions and history. It was very pleasant that the students and guests showed a keen interest in the topic of the conversation.

This time, the meeting was attended by adult students from Ireland, Japan, Spain, and Russia … As always there were many more who wanted to come to the club, but, unfortunately, sometimes circumstances do not allow everyone to attend every meeting. And yet we were many, and the meeting was very pleasant and useful. Everybody listened with great interest to the presentation about Russian folk singing on the big screen, saw the Russian national costume, listened to different folklore Russian music, practised Russian spoken language, performed creative assignments, and communicated in Russian and English in a relaxed friendly atmosphere over a cup of tea.

 Student Siobhan sang a Russian folk song, and students David, Anne and Shounid sang their folk songs in English. Thank you very much to the people who helped our meeting to become bright and interesting! Many thanks to Tatyana Senkina and Larisa Tolmachyova for the provided costumes and products from Khokhloma.
Special thanks to the little Inezsochka and her mother Nadezhda Lagodina for singing Russian folk songs. It was very beautiful and cheerful! Many thanks to our Irish friend Mel for his help in organizing the club, and a big thank you to my friends for their support! Everyone is great! Love you all!
See you soon again my dear friends!

Life and creative works of Leo Tolstoy

Dear friends, on the 22-nd of April 2017 we had our third Russian Language Club meeting in the Grand Canal Hotel in Dublin. I am so grateful to everyone who attended the Club. There were so many of you. Thank you so much! This time we had lots of Irish students, there were also students from Germany, Russia, The Netherlands, Lithuania, Great Britain and New Zealand. I regret that some of my great students from Ireland, Spain and Japan couldn’t make the meeting.

Every time I try to make the Club interesting, informative and enjoyable for all the students and people who is interested in the Russian language and Russian culture and history.

So, it took lots of time to prepare all the necessary materials, videos, photos and music.

This time we spoke about one of the greatest Russian writers Leo Tolstoy, his biography and creative works, and also about Saint-Petersburg, the Northern Russian capital.

The presentation about Leo Tolstoy went very well, in my opinion, and everybody showed big interest in Leo Tolstoy’s biography. He had a really astonishing life, which was full of contradictions, seeking of the essence of being. The main ideas of his novels are: the victory of good over evil and non-resistance to evil by violence… The most romantic moment in the presentation was a short video from the Russian movie ”War and Peace” by Sergei Bondarchuk – the first dance of Natasha Rostova at the ball.

Students found out that Leo Tolstoy wrote not only such big and great novels like ”War and Peace”, ”Anna Karenina”, ” Resurrection”, ”The Death of Ivan Ilyich” but he also wrote a lot of stories for children and these his short stories were very loved by kids, in which Leo Tolstoy as a teacher in his own established school, taught children the wisdom of life.

Students had a chance to read several short Tolstoy’s stories for children in Russian and these stories made all of us to smile.

After all everybody enjoyed  ”The Quiz” about Tolstoy’s life and students could check their knowledge about the writer and his creative works.

Then we talked about Saint-Petersburg. We remembered the history of the City, we watched video- film about Saint-Petersburg’s most beautiful attractions. I was so surprised that so many students have already visited this wonderful, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. So, they shared their impressions and observations in Russian and English languages and that was a good practice.

We sang a beautiful song about saint-Petersburg all together and it was so good, there was a cordial and unforgettable atmosphere of friendship. Everybody got closer to the Russian culture and opened a little bit the curtain to the world of Leo Tolstoy and at the same time  to the Russian world.

After all students enjoyed their time chatting to each other, laughing, having a cup of tea and sweet treats, discussing future plans for The Club.

Alexander Pushkin – the greatest Russian poet

The phone rang and I had to open the doors. My Irish students, Ann and Sheonaid, stood on the threshold.

– Well, how are you? Did you like the opening of the club?

-We were delighted, Irina. We really enjoyed. When we went on Saturday to open a club, we thought: where and why are we going? It was a little strange  to appear in a new company of strangers and speak Russian. But as soon as we crossed the threshold of the club, all doubts were immediately dispelled. We were surrounded by people on whose faces were kind and friendly smiles. Everything became calm and warm. There was no fear and uncertainty.

So my students shared their impressions about the opening of the Russian language club in Dublin. I was very happy that our first meeting was so successful. Everyone was very pleased.

November 12, 2016 there was a joyful event. We opened the Russian language club in Dublin (Ireland) as an addition to the ”Kalinka” Russian Language School. The idea of ​​creating a club has arisen long time ago. For many years of my teaching Russian in Ireland, my foreign students have always asked me if they can meet other students who are learning Russian and are interested in Russian culture. I really wanted to bring everyone together and introduce them. After all, live communication is the best method for learning a foreign language. Yes, and read Pushkin’s poems, view slides of Russian cities, listen to Russian music and sing Russian romances better in the company of like-minded people.

And now the time has come when the idea became true and the opening of our club took place. Students from Ireland, Russia, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Holland, Greece, New Zealand and Spain wished to become active members of the club.

The main subject of our first meeting was Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. Well, how it could be discussed  without ” Onegin ” and ” Letters from Tatiana ”…

For most students, many facts from the life and work of Pushkin turned out to be a new discovery. And it is wonderful that they learned something new and interesting from this meeting.

Everyone had the opportunity to talk, talk about themselves and their country in Russian, as well as illustrate their story with a poem or song in their native language. This brought all the participants very close. But David, an Irish student who has a hobby for modeling trains, told us in Russian about his hobby and showed a hand-made model of the Irish train.

Our club has interesting plans. Here we will read poems of Russian poets, get acquainted with Russian classics, listen to music, sing, improve the Russian language in live communication, learn a lot of new things about Russia, Russian culture and history.

I hope that our club will unite all those people who are interested in Russian traditions and customs, who love the Russian language, dream of visiting our beautiful country and, maybe, finding new friends.

I want to  say a big thank you to the Russian Embassy in Ireland and personally to Ambassador Peshkov Maxim Alexandrovich for financial assistance in conducting the event.

Russian Club Events

  1. Andrei Rublev ( the medieval Russian painter) and  Russian icons –  660 y. ago since born. ( May, 2020)
  2. Watching a famous Russian war film with English subtitles ”Ballade of a soldier”and discussion afterwards.  (March, 2020)
  3. Christmas celebration.   (December, 2019)
  4. Anna Akhmatova – Life and Poetry (1889 – 1966)  (November, 2019)
  5. Celebration of the 200 anniversary of the birth of the great Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, 19 century writer, poet, journalist and translator. (October, 2018)
  6. Russian Folk Singing (November, 2017)
  7. Life and creative works of Leo Tolstoy (April, 2017)
  8. Russian Christmas traditions. (December, 2016)
  9. Alexander Pushkin – the greatest Russian poet (November, 2016)

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