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Experts point out steep growth of interest towards Russian language in US

This was said in reports at an international conference titled ‘The Special Features of Teaching Russian’ that was held in New York City Wednesday

NEW YORK, September 19 (Itar-Tass) - Interest towards the Russian language in the US is in evidence of a steep growth, as dozens of thousands of Americans are already studying it on an optional basis at universities and general schools, said the reports at an international conference titled ‘The Special Features of Teaching Russian’ that was held in New York City Wednesday.

Also, Russian is a language of everyday communications for a million-strong community of ethnic Russians in the US. In New York State alone, it is spoken by over 300,000 people.

The conference brought together fifty teachers of the Russian language, specialists in Slavonic studies, literary text translators, diplomats, and reporters. They paid special attention to the studies of Russian by English-speaking Americans.

“People in this country have always treated Russian culture with great respect, and this culture can be understood and accepted by heart only if you know the Russian language,” Julian Lowenfeld, a leading American translator of Russian literature and an expert on Alexander Pushkin’s heritage told Itar-Tass.

Participants in the conference said New York is leading in the field of Russian studies, as eighteen specialized schools are located here. Although most of them teach Russian optionally, there is no shortage of students among the Americans.

The event was organized by the Russian Center in New York and was held in the highly respectable Princeton Club on Manhattan. It was supported by the Russky Mir Foundation, Russia’s Federal Agency for Cooperation with Fellow-Countrymen Abroad, Moscow City government and the Consulate General in New York.

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