The two-week program from July 21 to August 1, 2025 will include both educational classes on many aspects of the history and culture of Brazil, as well as Portuguese language lessons.
To get into the list of the lucky ones, you need to call/come to the Department of International Cooperation: tel. 8 495 250 61 84 (Lyudmila Nikolaevna Senchenko) ASAP.
Here we present to your attention a review of the 2024 summer school at this university by Dina Yudina, a 2nd-year RSUH student of the Master's program "Fundamental and Computational Linguistics".
Participation in the summer school of the Federal University of Minas Gerais in July 2024 made an incredible impression on me! During the summer school, we attended lectures on various aspects of Brazilian life and Portuguese language classes. I fascinated the lectures on the geology of Brazil, and the lecture on educational programs for the indigenous peoples. It was quite interesting to learn about measures the government is taking to preserve the indigenous peoples and their identity, but at the same time to integrate them into the modern environment.
All trainings were in English.
In addition to the lectures, we went on two excursions - to Ouro Preto, the first capital of the state of Minas Gerais, and to the Inhotim Institute - an open-air museum of contemporary art, which is located on a huge natural area, in the forest. This is a very unusual and incredibly beautiful place with amazing landscapes, such natural diversity! Ouro Preto, with its architecture and landscape, reminded me of Sintra, a city in the suburbs of Lisbon. It seemed that I was in Portugal, but in fact - 7,500 kilometers away and on another continent!
We also had one free day, when my new friends and me went to the center of Belo Horizonte and visited the Central Market and local fairs.
UFMG university students assisted us a lot as volunteers. You could address to them with any question or problem, and they quickly helped to solve them. They were very open and responsive!
Of course, it was not without difficulties. Although I studied Portuguese and knew it at an intermediate level, local people have not always understood me, and visa versa. Then translators or local guys came to the rescue. Sometimes I used the "fingers-and-body-language” while spaeking to the staff of the hotel where we stayed, in the stores and at the airport. But overcoming such difficulties (to which you later get used to) gave me a very important and valuable life experience!
