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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Hello, I am happy to see all of you!

Did you like it here?

Remark: Very interesting.

Vladimir Putin: You really liked it here?

You are studying in Russia, right?

Remark: Yes.

Vladimir Putin: I know that you are studying at different universities in different parts of Russia. I won’t hide the fact that I looked at some of the papers and reference documents. I was surprised to see that people from very hot countries… I think someone from India is studying in Siberia. It’s cold there, right?

Remark: Very cold.

Vladimir Putin: The main thing is to dress warmly.

I hope you like it in Russia and that your studies are useful. I believe that you also liked the festival.

Were the conditions normal? Good? Were you happy with everything?

Remark: Everything was good.

Vladimir Putin: You know we have a tradition of paying special attention to guests. In reality, many countries have this tradition. Guests always come first. In the schools where you study, you are not just guests but full-time participants in the process. But here you are still guests, and we try to create conditions where young people can communicate freely, find new friends, maybe some common business partners for future projects. I hope we have done a good job and achieved our goal.

But, not all of you visited the south of the country, not all of you have come to Sochi. As far as I know, the weather was very good over the past few days. It was warm enough but not too hot or stuffy like in other places. The weather was beneficial and facilitated free contact. I believe that different platforms, discussions and meetings were very useful to you. The main thing is to make it both pleasant and practical.

If we have the opportunity, we will organise something similar in the future. This is not the first experiment like this for us. It is not our first experience either, and I hope it is not the last one. So, I wish you all the best.

Do you have any wishes or questions?

Remark: We like it here very much.

Olivia Ndjelassili: Hello, Mr President,

I am Olivia, I came to Russia from Gabon in 2011. My father studied in Russia, in Krasnodar. He has a PhD in soil chemistry and physics). This is the reason I decided to come to Russia and study Russian. In my home country, I fell in love with the Russian language, became acquainted with the poetry of the 19th century, and realised that Russia was my country of choice for my education.

After reading works by Alexander Pushkin, I chose to study philology and entered the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute; first I studied as an undergraduate, and then I entered the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, got a master’s degree and then pursued postgraduate studies to get my PhD in philology.

Vladimir Putin: Congratulations. What is the subject of your research thesis?

Olivia Ndjelassili: Linguistic essentials of the Russian language textbook for Gabonese students of philology.

Vladimir Putin: Neat.

Olivia Ndjelassili: I am currently teaching Russian to international students studying at RUDN University. I am incredibly proud of my work and particularly of the fact that I live and reached my potential in Russia. I like it here very much. Thank you for this opportunity, God bless you.

With deepest respect, Mr President, if you allow us to take a photo with you afterwards, it will remain a lifelong memory for us. Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: I would be delighted, thank you.

You made an excellent and interesting choice.

Basically, learning a foreign language opens the door to a totally different world – one that reveals another nation’s culture. Today they say: why learn a foreign language when there are translators? But this is exactly what they used to say back in the 17th-19th centuries: “We have translators, so why learn foreign languages?” This is the first thing. Second, nowadays one can translate everything on the computer quickly and effortlessly. But there is no opportunity to get immersed in a different culture.

And a different culture is a different world. Reading works by Pushkin, Goethe or Dreiser in the original language gives you a completely different perspective, the one that the author conveyed.

I congratulate you for making an excellent choice. Also, Pushkin’s world is actually a global one; it is not solely Russian, it is global because it is about universal human values, the same ones that, say, other classic Russian writers such as Leo Tolstoy or Dostoevsky wrote about.

Great. I am very pleased.

Remark: Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Let us pose for a group photo.