FOR several years now, I have been teaching at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, which has the status of a university and is run by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The university was founded on Oct 14, 1944, and currently offers programmes in 18 fields of study, including international relations and regional studies, politics, governance, diplomacy, world economy, law, journalism, foreign trade and management, energy affairs, linguistics and the environment.
It has about 10,000 students and more than 1,300 teachers. It is a prestigious university, and is often called the Russian Harvard.
The university teaches 54 languages in every academic term, the most in such an institution, according to 'Guinness World Records'. The languages include Indonesian and Malay, which I teach at the master's degree level.
There are six students in my group. All completed the Indonesian language programme for their bachelor's degree; in the master's programme they continue to study Indonesian and try to master the Malay language.
They translate texts orally and in writing from Malay into Russian and vice versa, watch Malaysian films (they like films by Tan Sri P. Ramlee and U-Wei Shaari), study Malay folklore, and sing Malay songs.
Some of them, at my request, agreed to share their impressions of classes on Malay.
Gleb Darchenkov, who started to study Malay in 2019, says he is in love with the language and with Malaysia.
He believes that learning Malay is useful both for his career and personal development. Although he has visited Malaysia only once, he plans to go again as soon as possible, and he is sure that the country will continue to impress and inspire him.
Tatiana Putsnyakova says she is very happy to study Malay at the university.
She says Malay is a rich language that reflects the history and culture of Malaysia. She enjoys the learning process because it makes her feel close to the people and expands her insights into Malaysia's uniqueness.
"When we were studying for our bachelor's degree, Malaysian studies were considered an academic minor. Therefore, we covered only basic information about the country," says Dmitry Svechnikov.
However, the peculiarities of the Malaysian political and economic systems proved to be so interesting that he started to read more about them.
"Taking up a new language feels like entering a brave new world with many mysteries to be discovered.
"This helps me on my career track. For example, I've managed to present expert suggestions to a Russian delegation that held talks with Malaysian counterparts, and present a commentary on the new king," says Svechnikov.
Liya Korotkova, who is a student of the Political Economy of Russia and Asean Strategic Partnership programme, has been studying Malay for more than half a year.
She says it is a wonderful opportunity to immerse oneself in Malaysian culture.
"I have a Malaysian friend, and it is always interesting to share our experiences and try to learn new Malay words. Owing to our lessons with Dr Victor, we can now read Malay text and even speak Malay a little, which is always a fascinating experience," she says.
It is good to hear the positive responses. I am confident, thanks to their interest in classes and persistence, that they will become specialists who will do everything to strengthen friendly relations between the two countries.
* Pogadaev, writing from Moscow, is a former lecturer of Universiti Malaya