The jubilee 10^th International Qualification School "Modern Pedagogical Technologies in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language"   was solemnly opened by the President of VFU Prof. Anna Nedyalkova, D.Sc. who called the School "sustainable educational brand in teaching Russian in Europe". The school has 564 graduates from 18 European and Asian countries. In 2018, the participants represented 14 European universities from 10 countries. Prof. Nedyalkova thanked for the support of the project to: the Russkiy Mir Foundation, the Municipality of Varna, the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria, the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Varna, the National Publishing House for Education and Science "AzBuki" at the Ministry of Education and Science and the Bulgarian National Network of Teachers of The Russian Language And Culture.

Prof. Nedyalkova expressed her gratitude to the lecturers of the School for their creative approach and work, enriching the knowledge of the young specialists in Russian studies, and for their systematic contribution to the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language. Prof. Nedyalkova wished the participants to be satisfied with all the things learned in the School and the pleasure of communicating with the Bulgarian students.

Addresses to the participants in the school were given by the spokesperson of the Russkiy Mir Foundation – V.T. Litarenko, the General Consul of Russia in Varna – V.A. Klimanov, the head of the Representation of Rossotrudnichestvo in Bulgaria – P.V. Zhuravlev, the Head of the Department of Education, Youth Activities and Sports in the Municipality of Varna – Mrs Lilia Hristova, the Director of the National Publishing House "AzBuki" - Nadia Kantareva-Baruh, PhD and many others.

The organizers and the participants of the School received greeting addresses from the Executive Director of the Russkiy Mir Foundation V.V. Kochin, from the Rectors of Shumen University, Plovdiv University and New Bulgarian University, from the heads of the departments of Russian Studies at many Bulgarian Universities, the Head of the Regional Education Inspectorate, heads of  Russian language schools,. etc.




The soloist of Varna Opera - Geo Chobanov, Kristina Hristova and the Academic Dance Theatre of Varna Free University took part in the concert on the occasion of the opening of the school.
The major topic of the Jubilee 10^th International Qualification School was how to use the innovations in teaching Russian as a foreign language. The plenary lecture delivered by Prof. G. N. Shamonina, PhD and Prof. L.V. Moskovkin, D.Sc. entitled "Modern Pedagogical Technologies in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language or What does the School Teach you?" was a retrospective analysis of the ten-year experience of the International Qualification School. The good practices in the implementation of productive innovative technologies (design, theatrical, excursion), information technologies, training by means of fairy tales, songs and dances were summarized. The conclusion is that for ten years, the school has acquainted with the current processes of the development of the Russian language, with the tendencies of the modern linguodidactics, with the modern pedagogical technologies, the computer programs needed by the Russian language teachers, the network resources in support of the teacher, and above all, the School teaches pedagogical mastery, choice of an individual pedagogical style of work and love for the profession.

One of the key themes was the film technology - technology for foreign language learning in the process of creating video films. Prof. L.V. Moskovkin introduced the participants to the experience of teachers of Russian from Austria, the Czech Republic and Lithuania in the use of cinematography, its theoretical foundations, basic stages of work, as well as computer programs for a film montage. The participants had to create their own video films to be used as teaching aids in teaching Russian. Six international teams chose a theme of a training film, wrote scenarios, shot and edited movies.

On the last day of the School, a film festival was organized and 6 training  films were presented. First prize was awarded to the film entitled All Included prepared by team №1 - S. Daskalova (Bulgaria), G. Zvonaryova (Russia), A. Ivanov (Bulgaria), A. Kehayova (Bulgaria), V. Orsonya (Italy ), S. Horvat (Romania), M. Yankovich (Poland). The winners received certificates of achievement and gifts - Russian language textbooks and monographs by Prof. L.V. Moskovkin and Prof. G.N. Shamonina.

A lot of master classes and methodical seminars - workshops were part of the School's programme. The master class in New Internet Technologies for the Teacher and the Student conducted by D.Y. Bukin presented the most popular mobile applications for studying Russian. A professional appraisal experiment was conducted.

The poetics of dance and its universal language was the topic of Assoc. Prof. N.P. Cherneva, PhD. By the example of the precedent for the Russian linguistic culture "Kalinka" dance and song , the possibility of combining the study of a foreign language with music and dance at the initial stage of the training was illustrated. The methodical idea is attractive with the synergy of traditional methods and modern pedagogical technologies. After discussing the options of methodical development of a lesson for young children (6-8 years), there was a flashmob, in which the participants from Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Italy, Georgia showed not only their dancing skills but also their knowledge of the national specifics of the language of dance.

The Starry Night of the Specialists in Russian Studies began with a master class in Grammar in Chords conducted by D. Y. Bukin, dedicated to song technology to consolidate grammatical habits. The song material was presented as video clips and the students themselves composed exercises based on the lyrics. At the end, a reconstruction of the song "Closing the Circle" was proposed, with which the participants cope successfully. The Starry Night continued with individual theatre, dance and music performances by students from Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Georgia.
Traditional for the International Qualification School is the topic of the dictionaries that play an important role in the work of the foreign language teacher. The lecture of Prof.V.A. Efremov on "Dictionaries on the Internet and Internet Dictionaries"  was dedicated to the proper use of Internet resources for different types of dictionaries. The possibilities of the academic sources used in studying the etymology of the Russian language (www.etymolog.ruslang.ru) were discussed. Particular attention was paid to the strengths and weaknesses of the most popular information portals (www.gramota.ru, www.gramma.ru) and dictionary resources (www.dic.academic.ru).

Game technology classes included an analysis of modern approaches to "edutainment" or to educate through entertainment.  After a brief introduction to the history of the term, modern Western and Russian concepts of edutainment were presented.  In the master class of D.Y.Bukin, the participants learned how to define the objectives and tasks of the school games. 4 teams played games to develop a variety of communicative habits and skills. The lecture of Prof. V.A.Efremov continued the analysis of edutainment in linguistics with an emphasis on the new foreign experience in this field (so called "French workshops") and to innovative forms of learning with the help of electronic technologies (for example, language games with emoticons).

In the Efremov’s master class in Myths of the Russian Language: Online were disproved the linguistic myths which have come into fashion recently. As a prerequisite for the analysis of language misconceptions served a study on the Internet communication, which influences modern language and speech in at least three directions: through new forms of naive linguistics, through naive lexicography and through the activities of various internet companies (linguofreaks, etc.). The most interesting examples of false facts about the Russian language (for example, the difficulty of studying it by foreigners) were ironically discussed in an informal talk with the participants in the school.

At the closing of the School, Prof. Teodora Bakardzhieva, PhD presented the new VFU project "Digital Education for Economic Growth and Social Inclusion" and invited the participants to become part of the newest Master's degree programmes at VFU.
The Jubilee International Qualification School ended with presenting certificates and awarding the winners of the contest "Methodological Idea. Phrasal journey "Feast for the Whole World" or "How to Work with Set Phrases in National Audience?" This year, first place was awarded to the University of Shumen, second place was taken by Plovdiv University and the third – to the team of Samtskhe-Dzhavahetski University (Georgia ). The delegation heads received thank-you notes addressed to the rectors of the universities from the President of VFU Prof. Anna Nedyalkova, D.Sc.
Varna Free University and the Russkiy Mir Foundationd  received a lot of thanks for the organization and conducting of the School, the high scientific level of the programme, the creative atmosphere and the continuous care for the professional development of the young bspecialists in Russian studies in Europe.