Russian students in Erbil to learn Kurdish and Arabic

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Six Russian students are attending Kurdish and Arabic classes at Erbil's Salahaddin University following three years of study in Moscow. 

Each one of the students has different goals in learning the languages.

Three of them are learning Kurdish, with the others learning Arabic.

Nekarasova Tatiana, 21, a Kurdish language student, she says that she was inspired to learn the language by reading an online article about Kurdish issues. 

“One day I was reading an article on a website talking about the problems of Kurds, which was really interesting to me. I also saw some Kurdish authors and read about them. After that, in 2016 Moscow State Linguistic University opened a department for the Kurdish language. That’s why I am studying the Kurdish language.”

Moscow State Linguistic University was established in 1804 and is the oldest university in Moscow.

The students learned Kurmaji Kurdish in Moscow, and are now learning Sorani to become familiar with both dialects. 

“I study Arabic because of the ties between Russia and the Middle East.” said Zavalnyy Roman, an Arabic student.

Oncharov Oleg, 20, also studies Arabic. 

 “I have chosen to study Arabic because I wanted to learn the language of the Middle Eastern people. There are Russian oil and gas companies working in the Middle East,” he said.

The students are interested in the Kurdish culture and history, and praised Kurdish hospitality. 

Reporting by Dida Faridoon

Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed