TUFS Students Win Top Place at Russian Language Competition

July 12, 2022

On Sunday, July 10, 2022, the 50th National Russian Language Competition was held at the Tokyo Russian Language Institute, and TUFS student, Ms. Rio Maruyama (3rd year, School of Language and Culture Studies) won the first prize in the general category. Ms. Maruyama gave a speech titled “Preserving Culture and Art” (in Russian: "Защита культуры и искусства").

Ms. Maruyama’s comments on the award
I spoke on “Preserving Culture and Art,” and talked about the current situation of prominent Russians who have left their homeland, and about the beauty of the people and cities I encountered while studying in Russia. I would like to thank Ms. Natalya Barshai, who kindly guided me through the whole process from the drafting of the speech to the presentation, my seniors for their advice, my friends and family for their support, all the contestants for their mutual encouragement, and the organizers for holding the competition in such a difficult situation and for selecting me for the first prize.
I sincerely hope that the war will end as soon as possible and that the people of Ukraine and Russia will be able to live in peace.