Oriented on making people closer

The Turkmen National Institute of World Languages named after D.Azadi has a book club where prose lovers learn to perceive books in a new way, extracting maximum benefit from reading.

Every month the club chairman sends an email to the participants, in which he offers to choose one book to read in Turkmen, Russian or English.

When the choice is made, once a week readers are offered to complete several tasks on the book. And this is not a simple test of knowledge. Each task is an offer to creatively comprehend the events described in the work. Immerse yourself in the world of a novel or a story.

Questions push club members to solve complex moral dilemmas, forcing them to think critically and put themselves in the place of others. For example: what would the reader do in the place of the main character? How does he evaluate certain actions of minor characters? Would he like to live in the world described in the work? Are certain actions of heroes acceptable in certain circumstances?

Such a non-academic approach allows club members to develop emotional intelligence, better understand the feelings and motives of other people. This practice should help young people in difficult moments when they have to make difficult life choices, communicate with people who have a completely opposite view of the world.

The language of the work and the culture in which it was written are of great importance. Thanks to books in a foreign language, you can learn a lot about another country, feel like a member of a society dominated by a different picture of the world. All this broadens your horizons, makes you look at ordinary things from a new angle.

The founder and chairman of the book club is a teacher of Chinese at TNIWL Agagul Amirkulova, who also speaks Russian and English perfectly. We talked to her about how a community of book lovers appeared at the institute, and what it means to her.

— How did the idea of creating a club come about?

— I've always been a big fan of books. For me, reading was a way to expand my knowledge and immerse myself in the world of fantasy. But sometimes I felt that I lacked communication with other people who shared my love for books. And then I decided: why not create a book club?

I wanted to find like-minded people with whom I could discuss books and share my thoughts about them. I also wanted to create a community of reading people who would help solve social problems, as well as promote cultural diversity.

I hope that our book club will continue to develop and become a place where people can find inspiration and make friends. I am ready to continue investing my efforts in the development of the book club and am always open to new ideas and projects that can help our community grow.

— What inspired you to do this work?

— I was inspired by the idea of creating a book club when I learned about the UNESCO Languages of the World Club. This project promotes intellectual diversity and helps people learn languages and cultures of other countries. This made me think about how to attract more people to reading and learning languages. Creating a book club would be a great way to achieve this goal, I realized.

I also learned about the book capitals of the world, such as Cologne, Mexico City and Jerusalem. This inspired me even more, and I dream that my hometown of Ashgabat will also become the book capital of the world. I hope that my book club will play an important role in the development of culture and education in my city and will become a place where people can find inspiration, make friends and communicate with people from different cultures and in different languages.

— What does reading fiction mean to you personally?

Reading fiction for me means the opportunity to get carried away with someone else's life and thoughts, immerse yourself in new worlds and experience various emotions. It gives me inspiration and new ideas for my life.

— Try to determine the mission, what is the goal of the club?

The mission of our book club is to spread the culture of reading and intellectual diversity among the community. Our goal is to help people expand their horizons of knowledge, discover new points of view and raise the cultural level. We also strive to create a community of reading people where you can discuss books, exchange ideas and find friends with common interests.

— Tell us a little about the members of the club? What are they like? How do they differ from others?

The members of our book club are students and teachers of our institute. They differ in that they are very fond of reading and are interested in different languages and cultures. They read in three languages to choose from: Turkmen, Russian and English. This gives them the opportunity to learn new languages and cultures.

They are also distinguished by their openness to new ideas and a desire to communicate and exchange opinions with other members of the club. They are active participants in our discussions and are always ready to share their thoughts and impressions about the books they read.

— Describe the brightest and most emotional moment in the framework of the club's activities.

The brightest and most emotional moment in the framework of the club's activities was the first meeting of its members. Since the book club was virtual, I was not familiar with many of the participants, but their answers to the tasks gave a certain idea of their personality. Therefore, I was very intrigued before the personal acquaintance. When I saw them for the first time, I felt as if I had known them for a long time, as old friends.

— And at the end of the interview — blitz questions: audiobook or "binding"?

— Binding.

— Prose or poetry?

— Prose.

— Do you like reading with background music?

— Yes.

Maksat BUGRAEV

Photo: unsplash.com