The key facts

  • The Friday club “Hello, Russia!” at an American school sparked interest among 4th and 5th grade students, and there were not enough spots for everyone
  • Not a single Russian-speaking child is among those who signed up
  • A teacher from Samara described a similar experience of teaching Russian in the United States

A club about Russia attracted more applicants than expected

In the United States, a Friday club about Russia called “Hello, Russia!” has sparked heightened interest among schoolchildren, Life reports, citing the Telegram channel SHOT; the situation is also covered by Gazeta.Ru. According to the channel, 37-year-old Alena from Chelyabinsk has worked as a teacher at an ordinary American school for several years. This year she was asked to run the Friday club “Hello, Russia!” for 4th and 5th grade students. As the Russian woman was preparing the program, it turned out there were not enough spots for everyone.

The school opened an additional list

The school had to open an additional list of applicants, and the administration promised to find a suitable room. It is noted that there is not a single Russian-speaking child among those who signed up. Alena wants to start the first meeting with a tea party and introductions.

A similar experience of a teacher from Samara

A similar story happened to 30-year-old Kristina from Samara, the channel reports. For several years she taught Russian in packed classrooms at American schools, although there were no Russian-speaking students there either. According to her, the children especially enjoyed Russian fairy tales, folk dances and songs. At one of the New Year performances, the schoolchildren learned and sang for their parents the well-known song about the little fir tree.

Context and significance

The article ends with a reference to an earlier Gazeta.Ru publication stating that Chinese tourists spend an average of 150,000 rubles per trip in Russia. The story of the club itself shows American schoolchildren's interest in Russian culture regardless of the presence of a Russian-speaking environment: both teachers worked with children who do not speak Russian. For Russian-speaking educators abroad, such clubs become an additional format of work, and for schools — a reason to expand their schedules to meet student demand. At the same time, the information is based on a single channel, SHOT, via Life, and there is no independent confirmation of the details yet.