The Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies is proud to sponsor the New England Regional Olympiada for Spoken Russian. Organized nationwide since the 1960s by the American Councils for International Education (ACIE), the Olympiada is an opportunity for middle and high school students of Russian to test their knowledge of the language and receive recognition for their demonstrated proficiency.
This year's Olympiada took place on Sunday, April 7, 2024 on Harvard's Cambridge campus. The date for the 2025 competition will be announced in early 2025.
Participating students:
- Compete individually in three "commissions":
- About Me/Oral Communication
- Civilization/Area Studies
- Reading/Stories and Poems
- Compete at levels determined by how long they have studied Russian -- first year students compete at Level One, and so on. Heritage speakers may also participate in the competition.
- Earn gold, silver or bronze medals based on their performance. One regular student and one heritage student will be awarded top-prize for their performance.
Students and teachers are encouraged to review ACIE's preparatory materials, which are broken down by both level and commission. Please note: the Davis Center has made some adjustments to the Civilization/Area studies commission in order to make preparation less intense for participating students. First-year students should focus their preparation on Russian geography. All other students can limit their preparation to the following four topics:
- Russian/Eurasian literature
- Russian/Eurasian history and leaders
- Russian geography
- The city of Moscow or St. Petersburg
Registration
Registration for the 2025 Olympiada will open in January 2025.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the New England Olympiada for Spoken Russian, please be in touch with Cris Martin.