Foreign students at Al - Farabi Kazakh National University

Foreign students at Al - Farabi Kazakh National University

The first foreign students at the Kazakh National University began to study in 1980. They arrived under the state program and looked at the philosophical and economic, chemical and philological faculties and at the same time studied the Russian language.
At first, it was 15 students from the Republic of Cuba. Among the first foreign students were also representatives of Vietnam, Laos, Afghanistan, and Mongolia.
The contingent of foreign students gradually increased, the geography expanded, and in 1985, a preparatory faculty for foreign citizens and 2 departments were opened at the Kazakh National University (then called Kazakh State University named after S. M. Kirov) and 2 departments: the Russian language, which then worked 10 teachers, and the department of general education disciplines. 110 foreign students from 12 countries of the world have already studied at the faculty. Our department provided language training for foreign students, we taught them Russian for 10 months, so that students could continue to communicate freely in the country of the language being studied and study at the universities of the Soviet Union.
The first years were, of course, difficult, because we had to start everything from scratch: we developed and mastered in practice a new, utterly unfamiliar method of teaching the Russian language to a foreign audience, and there were not enough textbooks and teaching aids, dictionaries, and finally, there was no experience. Not only at our university but also in other universities of the Soviet Union, this direction was just emerging. But all the teachers had a greatly desired to learn a new business, and we studied together with our students. In addition, we had the opportunity to improve our qualifications at the FPC at Moscow State University and the UDN. Patrice Lumumba in Moscow. We learned a lot there.
The load, of course, was huge, having worked 6 hours in the classroom, we conducted excursions, prepared holidays, and evenings, helped students adapt to our country, introduced them to the culture and traditions of Kazakhstan, and also prepared methodological developments for lessons, compiled dictionaries, wrote methodological manuals but the teachers never lost their optimism. Our department was distinguished by a friendly and creative atmosphere, and dedication to their work.
Teachers always helped each other, made lesson plans together, developed complex topics for presentation and working out the material, went to each other's lessons, and looked for more effective ways to organize the educational process. This is how RCT was born. And when we saw the results of our work, it was just great happiness.
Of course, not everyone survived, some left. There were those who could not imagine themselves without this new interesting work. Many teachers work at the faculty now. These are not just experienced teachers who stood at the origins of a new direction of Kazakhstani theoretical and practical linguistics “the theory of mastering a non - native language by foreigners”, but also mentors for novice teachers. The department has a "School for improving pedagogical skills", and a monthly scientific and methodological seminar "Traditions and innovations in the methodology of teaching disciplines in a foreign audience."
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge in 30 years. Assistants became doctors and candidates of sciences. We have taught more than 5 thousand foreigners from 83 countries of the world not only the Russian language but also the Kazakh language, the interest in which appeared in the 90s.
Now we can say with confidence that the department has developed its own scientific and methodological school for studying the problems of mastering a non - native language, the theoretical provisions of which have been fully applied in classroom work with students. We ourselves write textbooks, teaching aids, and programs used by teachers of many universities in Kazakhstan, compose tests for current and final control, prepare methodological recommendations for teaching disciplines, and develop computer programs.
Life does not stand still. Our work requires us to be constantly creative. We can proudly say that now the department is widely introducing into the educational process new methods of teaching Kazakh and Russian as foreign languages, developed by our teachers, based on scientific research, confirmed by many years of experiments.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to list everything that was developed at the department and reflected in the educational process.
In addition to students who study on a contract basis, the department trains foreigners arriving under various agreements, on the exchange, representatives of diplomatic missions, and foreign teachers working at KazNU. al - Farabi at the main faculties. So for three years, a group of engineers from the Chinese National Oil and Gas Corporation studied the Russian language. There are letters of thanks from the management of the Corporation to the management of the faculty and teachers.
The number of exchange students is increasing every year. They come from China, Japan, Poland, Hungary, Mongolia, and South Korea.
For several years, students from six universities in South Korea have been studying at our faculty: HANKUK, TAEGU, DONGUK, TAJAN, BUSAN, KYENGI, and GANGNAM.
But the highest reward for us, teachers, is the success of students, and their warm letters of thanks, written in Russian, that come from different countries. Students are grateful to the faculty not only for good language training but also for the sincere support and cordial care of teachers and university leaders.
Here is what our students write in their letters:
Student from South Korea Jo Young Yun
Here I met wonderful teachers, friendly and helpful. I was interested in learning, thanks to their advice.
I am a very cautious person, here I felt the openness of the people around me, and now I have many friends. We communicate, walk together, and participate in concerts. I understand that my Russian has become much better, and I am not afraid to speak Russian. One thing I regret is that I have to go home very soon.
Student Kim Jin Hee (South Korea).
At first, I didn't understand what people were saying. It was a shock. Now I understand everything, the main thing is that I am not afraid to speak Russian. For me, studying at the university is a good practice. I realized that the language learning system here is very effective.
At the lessons we always have a friendly atmosphere, we joke a lot, and help each other. We not only study Russian, but also participate in the student life of the faculty, go on excursions, get acquainted with the life and culture of Kazakhstan, and participate in holidays. This is interesting.
I can’t even believe that I came here for a while because now I feel at home.
Yoon Yoo Han student
I like studying at KazNu, I know that the success of students depends on the teacher, and the teachers here are very good. They not only teach us, but they also help in everything and treat us students with respect and attention.
I have a dream: after graduating from university, to work in Kazakhstan, because it's cool here.
Now in Kazakhstan, I have many friends. I am very glad that I saw this country with my own eyes, which I could only read about before.

Al - Farabi Kazakh National University
Senior lecturer I. V. Matsko
Candidate of Philological Sciences, senior lecturer G. S. Koishybaeva