The university, attaching importance to expanding the scope of international cooperation, regularly involves foreign students in educational programs and provides favorable conditions for learning. Beatrice Riveron from France chose YSU to enrich her knowledge and lay the foundations of her professional activity.
After graduating from the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) in Paris with a bachelor's degree in Russian language, Beatrice moved to Armenia to participate in the first semester of the graduate academic program in the Faculty of Russian Philology at YSU.
Having studied literary text analysis, text linguistics, Russian literature in the European context, linguistic directions of the 21st century, as well as other topics at YSU, she passed exams and scored high marks.
She was given the opportunity to study in Yerevan thanks to the cooperation agreement signed between YSU and the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO).
"I had the opportunity to continue my studies in Armenia or Tajikistan. I chose Armenia without any doubt since I was not familiar with the Caucasus at all, I had only heard that Armenia is interesting for its history, culture, geography and religion," Beatrice Riveron said in the interview with us.
Speaking about her education in Paris, Beatrice noted that she studied Russian as a foreign language, but the approach to Russian is different at YSU: "At the university, I studied Russian philology comprehensively, thanks to which Russian became my native language. The study process was very interesting but also difficult."
Beatrice's goal is to become a translator. She has a great love for fiction, therefore, translating valuable literary works is one of her plans for the future.
"I was amazed to see my YSU fellow students' in-depth knowledge of Russian classical writers and their works, as well as their professional recitation of a number of works. In Yerevan, the love for literature is extremely significant, literature is still alive," she said.
Only after deciding to continue her education at YSU, Beatrice decided to get acquainted with the history of Armenia by searching for information also about the Republic of Armenia on the Internet.
"I became interested in Armenia and realized that it is a wonderful country with a rich culture and ancient history. I arrived in Yerevan on September 19, that is, on the day of the bombardment of Artsakh. I followed the situation on the news and it was sad and hard for me to know that the Armenian people and Armenian culture are under the threat of aggression," said Beatrice, emphasizing the importance of friendly relations between France and Armenia, especially that France supported Armenia at that difficult time.
While studying at YSU, Beatrice also visited the sights of Armenia, and before the exam period, at the end of December, she took a long trip by car with her brother, which she finished in January: "We visited Gyumri, Dilijan, Sevan, Tatev Monastery together. I discovered how many monasteries and mountains Armenia has, which seem to be the guardians of the Armenian faith. Nature is extraordinary. I was amazed by the colors on the road, the light that fell on the heights, the golden stones, the snow, the khachkars and the lake."
The French student was also attracted by Armenian dishes and hospitality.
"People are mainly very generous and outgoing, I was surprised by their sincere offer to help foreigners and friendly communication with strangers," said Beatrice, emphasizing that Armenia is a hospitable country.
Nara Martirosyan
