SECOND OLYMPIADA OF SPOKEN RUSSIAN FOR HERITAGE SPEAKERS
The literary magazine Malenkaya Kompaniya,
with the cooperation of the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR)
and the Slavic Department of Columbia University,
organized the Second Olympiada of Spoken Russian for Heritage Speakers.
We are happy to inform you that the Olympiada 2010 was a success. Just as our first Olympiada last June, Olympiada 2010 took place at Columbia University. On April 10, 2010, 52 children aged 12 to 18 from Russian-speaking and bilingual families came to the Morningside Campus.
In addition, on April 11 we conducted a first similar contest for younger kids – mini-Olympiada. On that day 53 children from 7 to 11 years old competed at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn.
There were participants from Russian-speaking and mixed families, and one girl was from an African American family – she studies Russian just because she wants to do it.
This year the geography of the participants was broader – though the majority of students were from Brooklyn, NY and various parts of New Jersey, Long Island and other places of NYS, one girl flew from Chicago and one drove from Philadelphia.
The participants of the Olympiadas study in the following schools:
Almost all participants demonstrated excellent communication skills in Russian and deep knowledge of Russian culture and history.
We would like to thank all the judges; it is worth mentioning that they and all the organizers worked on volunteer basis.
Here are the results of the Olympiada:
Gold medal ( for those who got 90 to 100 points)
Silver medal (for those who got 80 to 89 points)
Bronze medal (for those who got 70 to 79 points).
The Awards Ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 2:00 PM at Kingsborough Community College, Building U – College Center, Hall of Flags. The winners will get medals and diplomas of ACTR and of our magazine, and prizes from our sponsors. The Committee of External Affairs of St. Petersburg, Russia will award souvenirs to the participants. Several writers, poets, and bards have agreed to donate their books and disks to the winners.
We are very grateful to the following organizations and people for their support:
Slavic Languages Department, Columbia University, and personally Prof. Alla Smyslova,
Kingsborough Community College and personally Ms. Maureen Daily, Events Director,
Brighton Beach BID and personally Ms. Yelena Makhnin, Director
Gold Label Foodstore and personally Ms. Tsilya Mitkovski.
Our sponsors
Bard Igor Kuzmin, San Diego, CA
Gar Construction, Inc., Aesthetic Allure (Pogorelskiy family),
ASGARD IMPEX CORP. (Amigud family),
Golub-Vinokur family,
Russian Orthodox School, New Martyrs Church, Brooklyn, NY
Russian Orthodox School, Intercession Church, Glen Cove, NY
Neistat-Ukhorskiy family,
Easycare Acupuncture,
Russian Brooklyn Meet-up,
Argush family,
Gelman family,
Rakhlin family,
RBC bookstore,
Bederman family,
Fonarev family
The list of sponsors will be updated when we get your donation. Each family that donated $50 and more will be mentioned in our magazine.
We would like to thank Chernykh family and Ms. Tatyana Oparina for their assistance with logistics during the Olympiadas on April 10 and 11.
To view and order photos of the awards ceremony please click here (password "winners")
To register you child for the role game and knights tournament please click here
Info about the game is here
ACTR preparation materials are here:
http://www.americancouncils.org/documents/1017ac070606125813.pdf
General info about the Olympiada is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympiada_of_Spoken_Russian
Mini-Olympiada for kids 7-11 years old