Russian Russian was presented at the V Congress of the Society of Russian Literature in November 2025 with a specialized textbook "Russian Language. Introductory course for international students of theological academies and seminaries". This manual, which has completed a one-year testing cycle at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (SPbDA), is the first attempt at a systematic solution to the problem of language training for foreign seminarians in educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Russians Russian Orthodox Church's foreign students have been forced to use general textbooks of the Russian language as a foreign language (RKI), which do not take into account the specifics of theological education and church practice. This created a significant gap between the mastery of everyday language and professional and religious communicative competence.
As Archpriest Vladimir Hulap notes, the need for a specialized manual has been overdue for a long time: "There are many textbooks of the Russian language as a foreign language now, but none of them takes into account the specifics of the educational process in theological educational institutions: vocabulary, dialogues, situations described, etc. Therefore, the church material, which teachers used to try to add to the "secular" basic textbook on their own, has acquired a harmonious form."
The new textbook was developed at the junction of academic linguodidactics and practical pastoral experience. The methodological base was provided by the scientific school of Lomonosov Moscow State University (Prof., Doctor of Philology M. Y. Sidorov), and the applied component and content were provided by the St. Petersburg Theological Academy (senior dean of the Department of Ecclesiastical and Practical Disciplines). John Ivanov).
As M. Y. Sidorova explains, the material is built "on the basis of combining the principles of frequency and methodological expediency."..> The lesson material <...> allows you to introduce and practice both the basic vocabulary and grammar necessary for mastering the church subjects of the first year of study <...>, as well as language support for typical everyday communication situations." This synthesis made it possible to integrate lexical and grammatical models, texts and dialogues reflecting the realities of the theological school, liturgical practice and the foundations of religious teaching into the structure of the standard RCT course.
"Despite the fact that foreign students have been studying at our theological educational institutions for several decades, it seems to me that there has been a lack of a systematic approach in this area so far. The missionary and pastoral tasks facing the Russian Church now require a focused strategy in the field of education for international students," explains Fr. Vladimir.
According to the authors, the textbook will take a central place at the initial stage of learning. "I hope that it will become one of the main teaching aids at the first stage of education for international students," says Archpriest Vladimir Hulap. The pilot implementation of the manual in the SPbDA during 2025 allowed us to identify several key results:
Standardization of the process. The textbook sets uniform criteria and the level of language training for international students, which is a step towards unifying educational requirements in the theological schools of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Formation of the educational community. The use of a single specialized resource by students from different regions helps to strengthen the spiritual community within the framework of a common educational space.
Internal inquiry. The successful testing has initiated requests for the textbook from other theological seminaries of the Russian Orthodox Church, which indicates the recognition of its effectiveness and the urgent need for such solutions at the church-wide level.
As M. Y. Sidorova emphasizes, the course performs a critically important function of linguistic and cultural adaptation: "A foreign graduate of a theological academy (seminary) does not just assimilate a certain amount of knowledge <...> — he makes a "cultural transition", enriched by a system of meanings and values... The Russian language course of the specialty plays an important role in achieving this result."
Based on the experience gained, the author's team is working on the second, in-depth part of the course. The St. Petersburg Theological Academy, acting as the coordinator of the project, considers it as the core for creating an integrated educational and methodological ecosystem. "I would really like not to pause and continue working in this direction," Archpriest Vladimir Hulap emphasizes.
Promising areas include: • development of advanced level manuals for in-depth study of theological terminology; • preparation of parallel corpus of liturgical texts and hymnographic materials in the languages of the countries representing the flock of the Russian Orthodox Church; • The inclusion of students in the practice of translating church literature, which combines educational tasks with missionary and educational activities.
"There are a lot of plans, they are interesting, let's hope that... There will be people who treat all this not just as another incomprehensible additional burden, but as a ministry of evangelizing the gospel of Christ "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8)," Father Vladimir summarizes.
The publication was carried out with the financial assistance of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage.
The authors express their special gratitude to the Executive Director of the Foundation, Egor Skopenko, whose ministry, in their words, is "a bridge between peoples united by a common faith."