Just as a brook murmurs, our speech always sounds!
Under the aegis of these words the Poetry Day was held at the E.M. Primakov Centre, which was timed to coincide with the International Mother Language Day. The event was held with the support of the Samara University Coordination Centre.
Participants recited their favourite poetic works in Russian and foreign languages. Among the speakers was the Director of the Social and Humanitarian Institute of Samara University Alexander Yurievich Nesterov, who performed together with the teacher of the Philosophy Department of Samara University Anna Ivanovna Demina with Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s ‘Faust’.
With his performance, our good friend Leo Morot immersed us in the enchanting world of French poetry, clearly demonstrating the tools of wordplay, which the translator Ksenia helped us to understand.
Also student Yishan Jiang recited a poem in Chinese, which in translation sounds like ‘Spring Festival’, Arseniy Usikyan performed Georgian poem ‘Dila’, Kireeva Maria delighted with the sound of Turkish motifs, Vera Bashkirova told about Antonio Machado’s childhood memory in Spanish, and Sivoklokova Ulyana amazed everyone with a theatrical performance.
Our graduates also managed to please us with their performance of masterpieces of literary art: Ekaterina Sarycheva (a student of Lomonosov Moscow State University) – Charlotte Vgopteau ‘Life’ (English), Andrey Chistyakov (a student of Lomonosov Moscow State University) – F. Schiller ‘Der Handschuhuh’ (English). Schiller ‘Der Handschuh’ (‘Der Glove’, German), Alisa Brachunova (student of MGIMO MFA of Russia) – Tentang Seseorang (‘About Man’, Indonesian).
All participants received souvenirs from the Coordination Centre of Samara University. As a result of voting it was decided to award Ulyana Sivoklokova (‘Erlkönig’ in German, Gymnasium 4) and Arseniy Ussikyan (‘Dila’ in Georgian, the poem ‘Tatiana’ in Russian, Samara University) with the prize of audience sympathy!
International Mother Language Day is a great opportunity to recognise and celebrate the linguistic wealth of our planet and to remind of the need to preserve it for future generations.