Contest “Bilingua”

On February 21, on the International Mother Language Day in Moscow, the International Contest (bilingual essay contest) of children’s creativity “Bilingua” was started. Contest “Bilingua” is intended to support native languages, to form in children and youth a valuable attitude to the languages and cultures of the peoples of Russia and the world. The second important task of the contest is to support foreign-speaking students who show interest in the Russian language and Russian cultural heritage and realize it in their literary work.
The age of the contest participants is from 10 to 22 years old. The contest is held in three age groups: 10-12 years old, 13-16 years old, 17-22 years old, taking into account the subgroups: Russian as a non-native language, Russian as a second native language; Russian as a foreign language.

As always, the topics of the Bilingua 2024 are very diverse: in the ‘My Heritage nomination’, participants will write bilingual essays about names and their meaning in the language of their people, as well as tell stories based on family photos. Two more special topics of the contest are dedicated to the Year of the Family, announced in the Russian Federation in 2024: “The Roads of My Relatives: Geography of the Family” and “A Link of Times: If I were in the childhood of my parents, I would…”.

Young researchers will traditionally have an opportunity to prepare a bilingual work on the theme: “National Artistic Heritage in Modern Reading”. This “research” nomination is open to authors of essays devoted to the analysis and research of the common and different in Russian and national (ethnic) cultural heritage. The main text of the essay-research is presented in Russian with the use of native language (quotations, terms, concepts, names, etc.).

In 2024, a separate nomination is dedicated to the 225th anniversary of A.S. Pushkin. The choice of the theme “And every language that exists in it will call me”: the influence of A.S. Pushkin on the culture of my people” implies the study of what influence the work of the great Russian poet had on the culture of different peoples of our country and the world. In another theme of this nomination the children are invited to write a bilingual essay on the theme “Genius of my people”.

We invite young men and women speaking two or more languages from Moscow, other regions of Russia and foreign countries to participate in the contest! The necessary condition: Russian must be a foreign, non-native or second native language for you! The reward for the best participants will be a trip to the Russian capital and participation in a cultural and educational program organized by the Moscow City Government.