On 19 May, The “MIND THE GAP!” English Language Olympiad for students majoring in humanities was held at the St. Petersburg State University of Economics. “Cultural Differences” were defined as the topic for the competition this year.

5 teams from different universities, mostly first-year or sophomore students in Linguistics, International Relations and Foreign Regional Sciences, had to complete a number of challenging tasks in a game format: resolve an intercultural conflict in a multinational group, act out a dialogue and correlate the traditions and customs of nations with their locations on a world map. Additionally, the team captains competed in a quiz on the cultures of English-speaking countries.

“Silver Ravens” RANEPA St. Petersburg team won the first prize! The team captain shared:

Participating in the Olympiad as part of a team was a new and exciting experience for me. The tasks were varied – from classifying national cultures to performing an Eastern proverb in a short creative skit. I’d like to thank the organizers for such an engaging event!

Aynur Dzhafarova, a sophomore student in Linguistics

The Linguistics Bachelor’s program at our university is quite new: first students will graduate only in 2026. The team’s victory has proven the high level of knowledge students have received and contributes to additional motivation for the teaching staff.

Anastasia Delva, Head of the Chair of Foreign Languages, RANEPA St. Petersburg

An initiative has been brought up to host the Olympiad at RANEPA St. Petersburg next year.