Mobility grants for Tajikistan - Feedback from a winning student

International mobility in Tajikistan

Assisting the mobility of Inalco students is at the heart of the Foundation's priorities to support their immersion in their language of study. In 2021, a partnership agreement has also been signed between Inalco and the National State University of Tajikistan in Dushanbe.

After selection by a jury, four Inalco Persian students have been awarded a scholarship of excellence to go to Tajikistan in the 2nd semester of the 2021-22 academic year.

We were lucky enough to hear from one of the winners, Eve Garinat, about her mobility to Dushanbe.

Her mobility experience

After a bachelor's degree in Persian and International Relations at Inalco, Eve is currently studying for a master's degree in International Relations at Les Langues O'. It was in this context that she left for Dushanbe in Tajikistan with three other Persian-speaking classmates.

The Inalco students were housed in the dormitories of the National University, located to the west of the city. In return for free accommodation and university tuition, Eve and her fellow students were required to teach five hours of French per week to other students at Dushanbe University, in addition to the nineteen hours of classes they were taking (Persian, Tajik and civilization classes). This French language course enabled them to take part in numerous activities organized by the French Embassy in Dushanbe.

Alongside this, the students discovered Tajik hospitality and were able to experience various festivals such as the Iranian people's New Year (Nowruz) and Eid. These experiences were great moments of sharing culture and understanding Tajikistan

.

Tajikistan: an astonishing report on the national narrative

Independent since 1991 only, hit by a civil war between 1992 and 1997 and populated by ethnic minorities, Tajikistan had to (re)construct a national identity. Its leaders therefore set about rooting the national history in an ancient "Tajik-Persian" past, summoning as national heroes King Cyrus, founder of the Achaemenid dynasty, the poet Rudaki and Ismaïl Somoni, considered the "first statesman of Tajikistan".

The memory of communism has not been erased, however, and its legacy is neither truly denied nor celebrated, remaining in a certain ambiguity. People opposed the destruction of Lenin's statues, which were simply moved to more discreet locations in the urban landscape. But you can still find the sickle and hammer on some public buildings, or even portraits of Lenin, and many stores still sell souvenirs of the former USSR.

.

The exchange in this country as complex as it is beautiful was a highlight for the mobility students.

We warmly thank Eve Garinat for her testimonial and wish all the best to these four prizewinners for the rest of their journey at Inalco!