Presidium of International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature Meets in Amsterdam

The 25th visiting session of the presidium of the International Association of Teachers of the Russian Language and Literature opened in Amsterdam on Friday. The Russian language experts from Russia, Holland, the USA, Finland, Germany, India, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Slovakia and Mongolia participate in it.

The session is being held at the philological faculty of the Amsterdam University. The faculty has a Slavonic department, with more than 100 students. Amsterdam is a twin-city of St. Petersburg, therefore the two cities boast long cultural relations.

"Dutchmen have a special sympathy for Russia, probably, since the times of Peter I," President of the Amsterdam University Sijbol Noorda told RIA Novosti. According to him, the Russian language is being taught in several universities of the Netherlands. Russian linguists are invited to the University of Amsterdam.

Several Dutch specialists in Russian philology were awarded with Alexander Pushkin medals for the dissemination of the Russian language. One of them, Anton van den Baar, is the author of the Dutch-Russian dictionary, which underwent 13 editions.

Two more Dutch linguists are expected to be awarded with Pushkin medals as part of the session of the presidium of the International Association of Teachers of the Russian Language and Literature in Netherlands.