“Write Competently, Don't Make Mistakes”

17th October,2020

 

Evgeny Primakov took part in the Online Marathon “Total Dictation”.

This year, the Educational Campaign “Total Dictation” is being held for the seventeenth time. The main goal is to increase literacy for native speakers of the Russian language (“Writing competently is Fashionable,” says the Campaign's Slogan), as well as popularizing Russian among those who study it.

“Native speakers have a strange attitude to the Russian language,” says Ksenia Erdman, PR-director of the project. “Many people believe that if you graduated from school with a good grade in Russian, then this is a lifelong protection against mistakes. But this is not the case. Russian is a complex and multifaceted language, it needs to be improved all the time. Speaking and Writing Competently is kind of Good Form”.

It all started as a student flash mob of the faculty of Humanities of NSU in 2004, but now the action unites both native speakers of the Russian language and those who study it. “Total Dictation” takes place in dozens of countries around the world, this year – in seventy. The organizers remind you that the project is free and available to anyone.

This time the text for the dictation was prepared by the Russian writer, candidate of Philological Sciences, winner of the literary award “National Bestseller” Andrei Gelasimov. The topic is the biography, including little – known facts, of the founder of Russian theoretical cosmonautics Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

“Russian is one of the official languages of The United Nations, it is the language of interethnic communication in the vast space of post — Soviet countries,” Evgeny Primakov said on the marathon broadcast. — This is a complex language, which is also spoken by the students themselves who come to study in Russia, including the quotas of Rossotrudnichestvo — about 15 thousand people annually. Of course, it would be easier for them if they started learning Russian even before they arrived, before they get to the preparatory courses in Russia. That's why we decided that our Agency will support any Educational Initiatives related to the Russian language. It should be taught not only out of love for its beauty, to read Pushkin in the original, but also because it gives a social chance, a chance for education, a chance for a better job. It should be useful, not just pleasant”.

Promotion of the Russian language is one of the main tasks of Rossotrudnichestvo. Foreign Representations offer courses on its study; they also act as platforms for conducting “Total Dictation”. In particular, this year the campaign was supported by centers in Italy, Croatia, Argentina, China and number of other countries.

Follow the online marathon here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdn-334_25M&feature=emb_logo