On August 29^th, a certificates – awarding ceremony was held at the Serena Hotel in Arusha, for successful completion of an intensive Russian language course undertaken  by 18 Tanzanian citizens working in the tourist sector  in northern Tanzania - hotel workers, guides, employees and owners of tour companies. The project had been prepared by the Representative Office of Rossotrudnichestvo, in the form of a branch of Russian language courses conducted at the RCSC in Dar es Salaam. This course was conducted by our compatriot BairmaKihoro, a philologist from Buryatia, who prepared a special course program which includes basics of grammatical knowledge and the vocabulary essential for communication with tourists from Russia.

   After the island part of Tanzania - Zanzibar, Arusha is the second most popular tourist destination in Tanzania. From this city, which is located near the highest peak in Africa - Mount Kilimanjaro, travellers from all over the world go on safari to the famous national parks - Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Manyara and Tarangire. Russians have been coming here for quite some time now, but so far they have been able to express themselves in Russian only when they meet with graduates of Russian universities. After opening a branch of Russian language courses in Zanzibar in 2019, the Rossotrudnichestvo Office has come up with this one, as a second project, and it aims to further spread the Russian language from Dar es Salaam to other parts of Tanzania.

   The course took 2 weeks. Classes were conducted for 3 hours a day, within the premises of one of the “Serena Hotels” chain. Right from the first lesson, the most authentic dialogues, approximate scenarios of communication between guests and hotel staff, in Russian, were introduced. Depending on the topic, some of the lessons were held directly in the hotel’s services-providing areas - at the reception, in the rooms, in the restaurant, etc. And the participation, in a funny and mischievous staging of the Russian fairy tale about how a grandfather planted a turnip, and how harmoniously, both old and young, pulled it and pulled it, and finally pulled it out, helped to inspire the students.

   The project has already begun to bear fruit. Russians who recently arrived at the Tanzanian Serena were pleasantly surprised. They did not expect that so far from Russia they would be spoken to in Russian!