Southern Arkansas University’s Faculty Exchange Program frequently brings visiting professors to Magnolia, but recently Association Professor of Political Science Dr. Paul Babbitt traveled to Russia to be a guest at the Moscow State Pedagogical University.
He met with students most mornings giving a short lecture, then opened up for a time of questions from the students. Babbitt said that most of the students’ English language learning comes from studying the British dialect, so he was able to share some “American English” with the curious learners. He covered such differences as spelling, pronunciation and vocabulary. He saw himself as an informal resource for the students to have some real-world experience conversing with an American in English. The students then took turns being a resource for Babbitt as they gave him tours around Moscow, a vast city of 15 million people spread over a large geographic area.
The biggest difference Babbitt noted about the Russian students at the university was that they were deeply committed to learning despite not having a lot of technological resources in the classroom. Most students commute to campus and may live up to two hours away.they travel through snow and bitter cold to work on their degrees.
“They travel through snow and bitter cold to work on their degrees. The things Americans take for granted are a luxury in the Russian classroom,” said Babbitt. “Professors don’t have projectors or computers in their classrooms, and there is no Wi-Fi on campus.”
The campus is large, but spread throughout Moscow, so even those who live in dorms have to travel to get to class. The campus also does not provide places to study or offer social events hosted by the university. Most students study on the bus or subway on their way to or from campus, Babbitt learned.
One of the pressing questions asked by students in several of the classes was what Americans thought about Russians. They did not have a frame of reference to know where Arkansas was located or the typical stereotypes of southerners; what they did know of Americans was general. However, the students did know a lot about American pop culture, probably more than Babbitt.
“I think the funniest question I was asked,” recalls Babbitt. “’Is it true Americans don’t eat soup?’”
He shared with the students that Americans do, indeed, eat soup, just maybe not as often as those who were asking. Babbitt did have some borscht soup while he was in Russia. Borscht is a beet soup. He said you can get cuisine from all over the world in Russia, but his favorite meal was typical Georgian lamb dinner.
Babbitt was in Russia during their annual celebration of pancakes. They call them blinis and it’s a cross between an American pancake and a crepe, even though the translation comes out pancake. Even a stack of pancakes could not warm this southerner up in Moscow’s frigid weather.
“It snowed 10 of the 14 days I was there,” he said. “The temperature was only above freezing twice.”
But it was not the amount of snow that Babbitt was most impressed by, it was the Russian women’s ability to wear high heeled shoes and still keep a fast pace the ice and snow.
Babbitt even had the chance to attend a soccer game, which the Russians call soccer football. Despite having several checkpoints upon entering the stadium, fans still managed to bring in smoke bombs and firecrackers, Babbitt recalled, which kept the stands lively.
Overall, Babbitt enjoyed his trip. If he had to do it all over again, he said would learn more Russian before going. He got away with it this time, he said, because of the eagerness of the Russian students to speak with him in American English.
More information on Moscow State Pedagogical University can be found on their school website.