A festival for francophone students from Central and Eastern Europe will be held in Podgorica (Montenegro) from September 6 to 8. This year it is dedicated to the European Year of Competences. It will be attended by Marina Linnik and Anna Bobrikova, students at the NSU Institute for the Humanities.
They were selected by the Francophone University Agency (AUF) and received invitations that will cover all the costs associated with the trip: transportation, insurance, accommodation, and meals. The participants selected to attend the Festival are students at the Agency's partner universities who can write and speak French fluently. The students’ progress and creative abilities are part of the criteria. The goal of the Francophone Student Festival is to bring together young people from 18 countries who love the French language. This is the 10th Festival and the NSU participants are preparing seriously, this is an important event for them.
Linnik talked about her background,
My love story with the French language is quite beautiful. When I was 7 years old, my mother showed me a clip of Mylene Farmer "Appelle mon numéro". I was enchanted. She asked me to guess what language the artist was singing in. At that time, I had no idea what French sounded like, but for some reason I guessed correctly. Since then, Mylene Farmer has been my favorite singer and I dreamed of someday beginning to understand this beautiful language. At school, I liked to study English and when I entered the University Linguistic Department, I had no doubt about which language to choose. So, thanks to Mylene Farmer, I started learning French and immersing myself in French culture with great pleasure. This year, I finally fulfilled my big dream and went to a concert by my favorite singer. That is why I chose a French song as my Festival creative section priority; it still makes my heart skip a beat. I am really looking forward to the trip because I know I will meet many like-minded people at the Festival.
Anna Bobrikova graduated from school No. 162 (now the Lyceum "Integral") with an in-depth study of the French language. The student admitted that in her school years she was passionate about the language but not very interested in French culture. Everything changed when she arrived at NSU. At the University she met teachers who quickly instilled in her a love for French culture.
Bobrikova will participate in the competition of intercultural communication and oral public speaking at the Festival because she wants to develop the skill of interacting in a foreign language with a large audience. She is also carefully preparing for her performance at the Festival: every day she studies speech, conducts listening exercises, watches feature films and documentaries in French, and looks forward to the upcoming trip.
