On the afternoon of April 21, the School of International Education successfully held a Russian speech contest themed "Telling China's Stories Well, Chinese and Belarusian Youth Jointly Paint the Picture of the Times" in Classroom A11-313. All contestants were students majoring in Mechanical Design, Manufacturing and Automation (Cooperative Education Program). The contest served as a concentrated showcase and report on the practical teaching outcomes of the school's Russian Corner initiative. The judging panel included foreign teachers Taranova Lidiya, Bocharova Natalya Vladimirovna, and Khlevnyuk Alexandra Ruslanovna; Zhao Guomei and Chang Chengcheng, teaching secretaries of the School of International Education; and Wei Yujun, a Russian language instructor.
As an important extracurricular educational platform, the "Russian Corner" provides students in the Sino-foreign cooperative education program with a relaxed, efficient, context-rich, practical, and application-oriented environment for language practice. During regular Russian Corner sessions, foreign teachers carefully design engaging, innovative, and professionally relevant cross-cultural exchange activities that are bidirectional in nature: they not only guide students in exploring Belarusian history, culture, arts, literature, and local customs—thereby strengthening their language foundation and promoting mutual understanding between Chinese and Belarusian cultures—but also focus on helping students deeply appreciate China's own cultural heritage. Students learn to articulate the Chinese spirit, convey Chinese values, and tell China's stories well in Russian, comprehensively enhancing their cross-cultural communication and international presentation skills. This speech contest served as a thorough, practical test of the long-term educational outcomes achieved through the Russian Corner.
After intense competition, Zhang Wenguan and Yue Tao stood out. Closely adhering to the contest theme and drawing on their academic studies and personal growth experiences, they delivered vivid, fluent speeches with authentic examples, expressing profound reflections on the exchange and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign civilizations. With their solid language proficiency, poised on-stage presence, and sincere emotional expression, they won the first prize. The judges offered detailed and professional feedback on the contestants' performances from multiple perspectives, including pronunciation and intonation, content and structure, logical depth, stage presence, and expressive impact. While fully affirming the progress and overall performance of all participants, the judges also provided targeted guidance for further improvement and spoke highly of the contest's overall organization and educational effectiveness.
This Russian speech contest was not only an important stage for students to demonstrate their Russian proficiency and comprehensive abilities but also a vivid practice and effective exploration of the School's three-in-one talent cultivation model for Sino-foreign cooperative education: "classroom teaching—Russian Corner practice—competition exhibition."
Going forward, the School of International Education will continue to build on the distinctive features of the Sino-Belarusian cooperative education program, further strengthen and refine the Russian Corner as an extracurricular platform, and enrich the forms of cross-cultural practical education. By emphasizing language learning as a starting point, the School will strengthen students' foreign language application and international communication skills, guide them to build cultural confidence, and help them tell China's stories well. The School remains committed to solidifying the foundation for international talent cultivation, improving the collaborative education system between China and foreign partners, and supporting students in the cooperative education program to broaden their international perspectives while deepening their sense of national commitment—thereby laying a strong educational foundation for the high-quality development of Sino-foreign cooperative education at Xinxiang University.
