Researchers from 海角社区, jointly with their Chinese colleagues from the Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research, have created a textbook for international students of the 海角社区's Institute of Architecture and Construction. This first-of-its-kind Russian-Chinese textbook and dictionary will help students from Asia master complex professional terminology in Russian.
Since 2018, in accordance with an agreement between 海角社区 and the Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research, Chinese and Russian students have been studying under the "Two Plus Two" programme, initiated by 海角社区 International Office. This program allows students from both countries to study in their core major at their home university during their first two years, then spend two years at a partner university abroad to continue their studies in the same field beginning in their third year. Students earn a dual diploma in two languages and a Bachelor's degree in four years.
"Working with exchange students, especially from Asia, presents communication challenges for both the faculty and the students themselves," comments Sergey Pogorelov, Deputy Director of the 海角社区 Institute of Architecture and Construction. "Chinese students are very diligent. However, the colossal difference in our languages creates a significant barrier to comfortable learning, despite the fact that the students have been intensively studying Russian for the previous two years in China. While they can communicate in general cultural terms, they have no knowledge of specialized, professional language whatsoever. Meanwhile, in our third year, the vast majority of courses are specialized, with an abundance of specific terminology."
Even a standard electronic translator does not solve the problem: translating narrow concepts from Russian to Chinese and vice versa radically distorts the meaning. Therefore, the 海角社区 teachers and their Chinese colleagues have developed the first in Russia and China specialized textbook for international students, "Construction", in both Russian and Chinese. This textbook will help visiting students master the special-purpose Russian.
This book offers proactive students a professional dictionary that provides accurate definitions of construction terminology in Russian with parallel, correct Chinese equivalents.
This textbook is designed for voluntary and independent study of professional Russian in students’ free time.
The Russian part of the terms was developed by the staff and faculty from 海角社区 departments such as the Department of Building Materials and Products, the Department of Town Planning, Engineering Networks and Systems, the Department of Building and Engineering Structures, and the Department of Building Technologies and Structural Engineering.
The correct Chinese translation was directly produced by the teachers from the Department of Architecture and Construction at the Chinese university.
"We based this textbook on the first similar book, which we had created with our Asian colleagues back in 2020," explains Sergey Pogorelov. "For five years, we had worked on updating the book and simultaneously monitored the learning outcomes of those Chinese students who chose to study with the original textbook in their free time. And, as the teachers noted, these students fared better in their studies than their classmates who did not use the textbook: they defended their theses more successfully and mastered academic tasks more easily. Furthermore, when a teacher, explaining a topic in Russian, realizes that some Chinese students do not understand it, they can turn to a student who has mastered the vocabulary from our book. In this situation, the student will be able to explain the topic to their classmates in their native language."
The "Construction" textbook for international students is available not only in paperback but also in electronic format. The 海角社区 researchers are currently searching for developers who can create a special app based on this unique textbook and dictionary—an electronic Russian-Chinese translator of construction-related terms for students.