NMSTU Welcomes A Dear Guest from Bulgaria
- Published: Monday, 03 April 2017 10:17
On March 29th, Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University welcomed a long-awaited guest, Stefka Geogieva from Plovdiv, Bulgaria – D.Sc. in Philology, Professor specializing in phraseology and comparative analysis of Bulgarian and Russian set expressions.
Ms. Geogieva has strong ties with Russia. She did her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Saint Petersburg and now she teaches Russian at Plovdiv University. When at home Ms. Geogieva, like most Bulgarians, openly shows her love of Russia.
“When Bulgaria turned towards NATO, when the country was aspiring to become an EU member and turned its back on Russia – basically, the political establishment – it was at that time when monuments would be demolished that symbolised close historical ties between Bulgaria and Russia. It was then when Stefka Geogieva and her students at that time saved one of such symbolic monuments from being blasted. This, I believe, speaks of a true love of Russia and Russian people,” addressed the audience Svetlana Shulezhkova, D.Sc. in Philology, Professor, Honorary Professor of Magnitogorsk State University, a member of the Commission in Phraseology within the International Committee of Slavonic Scholars, Honoured Worker of Russian Higher Education.
Because of political tensions Bulgaria and Russia lost their ties. However, according to Stefka, Bulgarian people have always been in love with Russia and invariably welcome Russians.
The Russian language used to be No.1 among the foreign languages taught in Bulgaria. In fact, Russian used to be a necessary part of the school curriculum. Today Russian is the least popular language, English being in the spotlight. Responding to questions raised by the audience, the Bulgarian professor talked about the similarity between Bulgarian and Russian, the Bulgarian higher education system, the majors offered at Plovdiv university and about the beauties of Bulgaria as a country.
The current visit was unique because the Bulgarian professor approached NMSTU with a proposal to sign cooperation agreements with Bulgarian universities to enable student and staff exchanges, language practice and cultural exposures. The proposal was warmly welcomed at NMSTU.
Svetlana Artemova,
Information Policy Office
