On April 20, 2017, students of two bilingual gymnasiums of Bratislava met with a Russian delegation of cultural workers from the city of Petrozavodsk. The meetings were held within the framework of the action "Days of Russian Culture" in Bratislava organized by the Russian Center of the European Foundation of Slavic Literature and Culture, Russian Center of Science and Culture and the Department of Culture of Petrozavodsk with the support of the “Russian World” Foundation.Gymnasia named after the Slovak writer and diplomat Ivan Horvath this year celebrated its 50th anniversary. Gymnasium named after the famous scientist Albert Einstein is the oldest gymnasium in Bratislava and has existed since 1953. In both gymnasiums they learn Russian through an intensive program and also several subjects are taught in Russian.
In accordance with the program of meetings in each gymnasium, students were given a lecture on the peculiarities of the modern Russian language and its use in the Internet communication environment. Lectures were read by the leading teacher of the Philological Faculty of Petrozavodsk State University, Associate Professor A. Kotov.
The delegation consisted of musicians and actors, who in a fascinating manner conducted a quiz on the knowledge of Russian culture. Actress I. Gaevskaya performed in a national costume, told about Karelia, traditions of the northern peoples of Russia, spoke with a story in a local dialect. The students listened with a big interest to the musical fragments of Russian songs and guessed the names. Many of them quite confidently answered questions about Russian cities, theaters and museums, composers and writers, quoted Pushkin, sang the familiar songs. On some questions, the students responded instantly and in chorus, which was nice to hear for the guests from Russia. All the winners of the quiz received prizes brought from Karelia.For both gymnasiums such meetings became an extraordinary event. In the gymnasium named after Ivan Horvath the meeting ended with the performance of the entire class of the Song of the “Sun circle”, and in the Albert Einstein gymnasium the performance of the song “Katyusha”.
In each gymnasium, about five dozen students gathered in the classrooms, also came teachers and the management of gymnasiums. Everyone was thankful for organizing such useful and unforgettable meetings. We invited each other to visit. There was a warm and friendly atmosphere. The students took photos, filmed the video for memory.