Russia is extending its soft power in the Central African Republic, where it runs a cultural center called Russian House in the capital, Bangui. Among its programs are Russian language courses for young Central Africans hoping to study in Russia.
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00:00I love my country. In French, I love my country.
00:08The 19-year-old just passed his advanced level certificate in scientific studies. Like many
00:15students in this war-torn country, his parents were unable to pay for him to attend the University
00:21of Bangui. So, he decided to go his own way.
00:27As a child, I dreamed of being a polyglot, so it motivated me to learn Russian.
00:33Emmanuel is learning the language in this Russian cultural center situated at the heart
00:39of the capital, Bangui. Dimitri Siti is the head of the Russian House. He says the demand
00:47for language classes and cultural activities shows it is doing one thing, bringing Russia
00:54and the Central African Republic closer together.
00:58Right now we are more focused on children's plays and children enjoy it very much. We
01:02are presenting the Russian universities and Russian schools for local students that can
01:07go also for studies in Russia. And right now, as Russian policy towards Africa is developing
01:16rapidly, Russia is giving much more quotas for African students to study in Russia.
01:24Naomi is one of the teachers in this Russian language center. Her father is a Central African
01:34and her mother a Russian. All of them live in Bangui, where she was born. She has a diploma
01:41in accounting and management from a college here in Bangui. She never went through a formal
01:47teacher training process, but her mother taught her Russian while she was growing up and she
01:52decided to do the same to other Central Africans.
01:56The Russian language is an asset and also has very significant advantages for the Central
02:01African population in terms of vocabulary and language. Teaching Russian language in
02:06the Central African Republic is an added value.
02:09Some Russian critics say Moscow's aim to teach the Russian language here in the Central African
02:14Republic is to smudge French that was already a standard language here. Do you agree?
02:22This has no colonial or political connotations. The Central African Republic is a country
02:28like any other, so it welcomes the Russian language as well. And it is longed for by
02:34the population.
02:36Emmanuel is one of 500 students learning the language here. He is clear why, because he
02:43wants to move to Russia.
02:46I've chosen the Russian language to have the opportunity to apply for a scholarship to
02:50do my higher education in medical studies in Russia, because at the moment there's a
02:55serious health problem in my country. We don't have enough doctors. I'd like to help my country
03:00by studying in Russia to facilitate development.