The annual language week for teachers of Russian took place in The Russian House of Science and Culture (the largest Russian cultural institution in the world) in Berlin, Germany from 22nd November to 25th November 2022. 

The main event was a 5 day Conference on the „Theory and Practice of Teaching Russian in Multilingual Europe“.

As Director and teacher in the Kalinka Russian language School, Dublin, Ireland, I was lucky to be asked by Ludmila Snigireva ( chair of the Association of  Russian Language Teachers in Ireland ) to speak at the conference on the Practice of teaching Russian, specifically in Ireland.

Teachers and Directors of Russian language Centres from 12 European countries participated in the Conference.  All were invited to a Reception in the Russian Embassy in Berlin and were received warmly by ambassador Sergei Nechaev. The Embassy was rebuilt exactly 70 years ago after the 2nd World War to its present palatial magnificence.

A cultural theme of the 5 days, outside the formal business of the Conference was, „Dostoevsky for All Times“, given by experts in the field. There was an exhibition dedicated to the 200th Anniversary of Dostoevsky birth and life. The exhibition has comprised of collection from the State Museum of the History of Russian Literature, named after V.E. Dal, ’’Dostoevsky Among His Heroes’’. It included paintings illustrations based on the great classic works of Dostoevsky famous worldwide.

A literary evening dedicated to the Russian poetry of the ’’Silver Age’’ was a popular event for all Conference goers and I can confirm that I too thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the 5 day Berlin Conference.

Also, I learned a lot of new and useful information around the context of the teaching of Russian in the classroom and in a one to one situation. I met a lot of interesting teacher professionals who spoked some inspirational ideas for me. Good ideas were everywhere in the air for 5 days brainstorming in Berlin.

I would like personally to thank all the organises and the participants for a wonderful event in very difficult times and also, Ludmila Snigireva for inviting me.