Twenty-three students competed in this year’s New Jersey National Olympiada of Spoken Russian, held at Drew University in Madison, returning home with 9 gold and 11 silver medals. Students participated on Level I or II, depending on their language proficiency. At Level I, Bruriah sophomores answered questions about themselves, communicated on seven different cultural topics, read texts and recited poems. At Level II, juniors communicated on two of 10  conversational topics such as family, school and nature; talked about one topic regarding Civilization;  discussed one topic concerning prominent people and places of Russia; and recited a classic Russian poem.

“I loved Russian Olympiada because I got to meet other students who learn Russian and I had a lot of fun. Although it was a lot of work, it was extremely satisfying to see that I can do anything I set my mind to and that all my hard work paid off,” said junior Chani Klavan, a gold medalist.