Xinhua agency filming at KFU’s Confucius Institute

Representatives of China’s official news service talked to teachers and students on 17 October.

Journalists filmed the teaching and office premises of the Confucius Institute and the Department of Chinese Studies and Asia-Pacific Studies.

“On the eve of the BRICS summit, colleagues are making a movie about Kazan’s educational institutions where Chinese is taught. Xinhua representatives also visited the Confucius Institute, which is the center of Chinese language teaching in the capital of Tatarstan,” said Co-Director of the Confucius Institute Yelena Nesterenko.

Yi Yanping, Co-Director of the Institute from the Chinese side, noted that she was pleased with the attention of Xinhua Agency, “Our Confucius Institute has been developing and successfully functioning for 17 years already. We are proud of the achievements – the level of Chinese language proficiency of both our teachers and our students. The interest in the language is only increasing every year, this is, of course, due to the exchange of students within the grant program. Now, in order to enter a master’s program, you need to pass the fifth level of the HSK exam. We, in turn, need to ensure proper training. Confucius Institute is a bridge connecting Russia and China.”

Student Irina Kochetova shared that this year she managed to go to China for an internship, “Thanks to Kazan University, my classmate and I were able to win an international grant to teach Chinese. I studied in China for six months and came back. At the age of 16 I started studying religions, became interested in Confucianism, culture, literature and history of China. When the time came to pass the USE, I chose those subjects that would help me to enter Oriental Studies. My choice fell on Kazan Federal University. Thanks to my teachers for motivating me. In the future I plan to teach Chinese and also motivate students to study this country”.