Research On The Development And Status Quo Of The Private Confucius Classroom In Saint Petersburg Against The Background Of The International Education Of Chinese Language

Russia holds a special geopolitical and geo-cultural place in the world and has always played an important role in the dialogue between the West and the East.Contacts between Russia and China,in terms of trade,government,culture and education,date back 300 years,and ever since the Orthodox mission to Beijing in 18th century,Russian explorers have been actively collecting knowledge,studying the Chinese,Manchurian and Mongol languages,translating texts and training interpreters.As Saint Petersburg used to be the capital of the Russian Empire,its connection to China is particularly strong,and it has been the main driving force behind the development of Oriental studies in Russia.In 1855,the Faculty of Asian and African Studies of St Petersburg State University was founded,and Petersburgians has had a particular interest in Chinese culture ever since.The 21st century has ushered a new chapter of China-Russia ties with the signing of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship in 2001.Today,Saint Petersburg,the second largest city of Russia,is an economical,political and cultural hub.Thus,in the conditions of rapidly developing partnership between Russia and China,more and more Petersburgians have started to learn the Chinese language,which has become fashionable.For this very reason,this paper studies the Independent Confucius Classroom at Private Educational Institution in Saint Petersburg.The Classroom was founded in 2001 as an educational organization of supplementary education named Chinese Center,in 2007 it joined the global franchise of Hanban Confucius Institutes,and in 2016 it became one of the best Confucius Classrooms in the world.The Classroom provides Chinese lessons,owning 4 more branches to teach Chinese in partnership with 5 comprehensive schools in the city,and it is currently the largest educational organization of Chinese supplementary education in Russia.The article is divided into the following four parts:The first is Introduction,where the scientific background,the goals and the methods of the research are described,as well as the literature review.The second part gives a short review of history of Chinese learning in Tsarist Russia,Soviet Russia and Russian Federation,a summary of the current state of Chinese learning resources,including comprehensive schools and universities,Confucius Institutes and Classrooms,private language schools and various teaching projects done by private individuals.The third part is dedicated to the Independent Confucius Classroom in Saint Petersburg,telling the history of its foundation and summarizing the qualities of its teaching staff and program,as well as its organizational and extracurricular activities.The fourth part is Conclusion,which gives a summary of the foregoing and points out the flaws in this work and the ways in which this work could be further expanded and improved.As the Independent Confucius Classroom withheld its permission to conduct surveys among teachers and students,this work is lacking in first-hand information and statistics,thus,there is still plenty of research to be done on the spread of the Chinese language among Russians-and Petersburgians in particular.