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Gyulbike Talibova, 3rd-year student of the Bachelor's programme 'History', shared her first impressions of studying at the University of Trento on an Erasmus+ scholarship. In her interview, she also talks about Italian students, the language barrier, travelling to northern Italy, and much more.

'City Legends' is a new feature on our website. Here, you will find interesting stories about St Petersburg, its life, citizens and architecture. The series starts with an interview with Mitya Kharshak, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg School of Art and Design. Find out how scaffolds changed the image of the city, in what way Mitya's family is connected with the art of Leningrad-St Petersburg, the Russian Museum and how fonts on the tablets help people to capture the zeitgeist in the article.

Victoria Sharonova is a second-year student of the Master's programme 'Modern Social Analysis'. She is combining work and studies and recently moved to Italy under the double-degree programme between HSE University-St Petersburg and the University of Trento. In her interview, Victoria speaks about the admissions process, difficulties with accommodation and food, and the peculiarities of studying in Italy.

Andrey Lyublinskiy, Curator at the HSE University-St Petersburg Art and Design School, designed the show of the 2023 spring-summer collection in the BoscoVesna mall on Novy Arbat in the middle of April. Design students also participated in the digital part of the show in real time, creating NFT characters and animations.

Vladislava Galkina is a third-year student of the Bachelor's programme 'Philology' at HSE University-St Petersburg who went to Italy under the academic mobility programme in the third and fourth semesters. In her interview, Vlada talks about participating in the mobility programme, finding accommodation in Italy, and attitudes to Russians abroad.

Ekaterina Shelukhina is completing her fourth year of studies in the Bachelor's programme 'Applied Mathematics and Information Science'. In autumn, she passed the selection process for the VK project workshop. There, she works on the interface of the Robbi machine-learning platform. Ekaterina shared her impressions of the project and her trip to Moscow.

The term 'language barrier' refers to any difficulties that arise when speaking a non-native language. Almost every person studying a foreign language has experienced this unpleasant phenomenon. The reasons for this problem include a fear of the unknown, a fear of mistakes, embarrassment because of one's accent, a fear of being misunderstood and much more. All of these problems are a psychological component of the language barrier. In this article, foreign students from different countries share their experiences and help foreign applicants overcome their fears.

If you are an international student, there is a good chance that there are some things you do not know about the university you applied to. It can be hard to adapt to a new place, new people, and—most importantly—a new educational system. That is why we asked Yesuigen Tsogjavkhlan, 2nd-year student of the Bachelor’s programme ‘Public Policy and Analytics’, to share five things she wishes she had known before coming to HSE University-St Petersburg.