BRUSSELS, September 25. /TASS/. The number of people attending the Russian language courses organized by the Russian Centre for Science and Culture (RCSC) in Brussels has increased by 30% in one academic year and now exceeds 200 people, confirming the rising demand in the Russian language in Belgium, Director of the center Vera Bunina said in an interview with TASS.
"In the last academic year alone, the number of attendees of the RCSC Russian courses rose by 30% and now exceeds 200 people," she said.
"Our courses teach basic Russian, classes are held 1-2 times a week. Our advantage is that we have small groups (6-10 people) formed based on the command of the language, which is assessed by entry tests," the director said. "Also, the RCSC has a great specialty, which no other education center in Belgium has where Russian is taught - we have themed special courses. Last year, we had three of them: Literature Club, Russian History and Culture and Spoken Russian, while this year we will also add two more: Russian for business and media and news Russian, which we dubbed Evening News.
"Our courses are tailored for adults, therefore, we hold our lessons for students aged over 18. However, we regularly get children brought to us. We recommend that they attend our partner Russian language schools. However, there is an interest in organizing such courses at the RCSC, that is why we are studying an opportunity to launch groups for kids and teenagers. We already have a lot of culture programs for children, particularly a program of literature readings called Lit-cafe, held on Saturdays," the director said.
Apart from the literature cafe, the RCSC has a number of other projects, particularly an art school and master classes where Russian used as the language of instruction. "Our cinema club is also hugely popular among the Belgians. Another project we are launching this season is a lecture center, where lectures will be delivered about history and culture in English, French and Dutch," Bunina pointed out.
Moreover, the RCSC boasts the biggest Russian-language library in the Benelux, featuring more than 6,000 books and a multitude of video and audio materials. Everyone subscribed to attend this library has an access to major Russian digital library resources. Anyone can subscribe for a mere price of 5 euros per year, as well as small deposits for taking books home.