HSE School of Foreign Languages Multicultural Club
HSE School of Foreign Languages
The School of Foreign Languages (SOFL) of the Higher School of Economics is one of the departments located in the Faculty of Humanities. They offer a bachelor’s program (4 years) and master’s program (2 years) in Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication. They teach different foreign languages, such as: French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, German and they have well trained and specialized language instructors. This academic year however, the School of Foreign Languages enrolled a numerous number of international students into the master’s course. These students are from Togo, Ghana, Nigeria,Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Peru, Kazakhstan, China and many others.
The Multicultural Club
The club was founded by the School of Foreign Languages in November 2022 with the aim of bringing cultures and traditions together as one and assisting international students in getting settled into the new environment. The club is made up of over thirty international students from different countries namely: Nigeria, Ghana, Afghanistan, Italy, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Togo, China, and so also of over twenty domestic students all with the same aim and zeal. These students are not only from the School of Foreign Languages but also from different faculties of the Higher School of Economics in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
The Multicultural Club of HSE unites international students and supports them in different aspects such as: mentally, emotionally, physically and so on. International students can now discuss their cultural values on a new platform called the Multicultural Club. It was created by the students of the department of Intercultural Communication and Foreign Language of HSE. There, International students are treated like family and the club has, so far, been conducting various events to give moral support to the international community.
The main aim of the club is to unite students (local and international) and make their studying in HSE quite memorable.
Club foundation
Indeed, it is not always easy to get accustomed to or be included into a totally different culture from what one has been used to, their entire life. The idea of the club came together when an international student complained about not feeling included in the activities of the department and in the entire academic system of HSE due to her inability to understand the Russian language and culture. Few days later, some domestic students came up with this idea in order to make their foreign colleagues feel a lot included and welcome and also to assist them in getting accustomed to the Russian culture and systems. Their idea was accepted and approved by the authorities of the School of Foreign Languages and that's how the club started. When asked what her expectations and hopes about the club were, the President of the club, Alexandra Tavrovskaya said:
In my opinion, the creation of a Multicultural Club opens up new horizons for our university. We already have language clubs such as French, Spanish, Japanese, etc. However, in our Club there is an opportunity to communicate with native speakers of different languages at once, learn a lot about the culture of foreign countries. In the future, I hope this club will help to develop cooperation with foreign universities. What's more important - it is a nice chance to make new friends and to see the world from new angles.
Duties of the Club
They gather together students from different countries, backgrounds, traditions, and cultures on a single platform in order to support and assist them mentally, morally and to make them united. They organize recreational and educational events of all students (local and international) to participate and showcase their talent, culture, tradition,etc.
They create a safe atmosphere for international students and everyone to learn and practice a new foreign language. The main aim of the club is to unite students (local and international) and make their studying in HSE quite memorable. The Multicultural Club of HSE does not only organize events, they also create a one-on-one relationship with international students, such as: assisting them in getting around the university campus, taking them sightseeing and showing them important and recreational places around the city, also in any other way necessary. In a nutshell, the primary aim of the club is to create memories that will last long even after graduation.
The Multicultural Club also organizes some outings and get together amongst the club members in order to keep a very healthy relationship. On the 25th of December 2022, the members of the Club went to the Zoo and it was indeed an amazing outing.
The Multicultural Club of HSE is the change that we need, it's a new dimension and a channel that brings together students from various backgrounds and makes them one big and happy family.
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