Peartree Juniors: Alex from Wales interviews Petr from Russia!

Hello, my name is Alex Paramore. I have been a student learning French with Peartree Languages since I was three years old! During the summer, I was lucky enough to participate in a week’s worth of work experience in Peartree. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I would highly recommended it to anyone that wants to learn about the work place.

During my time at Peartree, I had the opportunity to interview, Petr Deryabin, a Russian student who was attending Summer School at Peartree. Petr is 15 years old and lives in a city called Tyumen, which is situated in the southwest of Russia.

Alex and Petr during the interview

He described the city where he lives as having a river separating it in half. One side being a place where everything happens, it always being busy like any typical city. In contrast the other side being a place where no one would choose to go. Petr said he preferred to live in the cottage owned by his parents, in the suburbs, as he finds the city very noisy and polluted. He described the city as having a lot of hidden beautiful places, only known to a few. Petr particular likes the “Farewell” monument in Tyumen, which shows a man and woman saying goodbye.

I ask Petr how he would describe himself. He said he was just a normal 15 year old. Petr told me that he has a number of hobbies. He enjoys computer programming. He entered a competition for robotics, which was at an international level. Petr said that sadly, due to an error in the code, he did not win, but still has the passion to continue this hobby. He is hoping to learn C and C++, which are advance computing languages. He is also a talented musician. Petr has graduated from his music school with Grade 8 in piano. He is also a keen cyclist and rides his bike everywhere he can. Petr started to sing the Queen song “I want to ride my bicycle”, which was very humorous.

Petr is having a class with our Director of Studies, Tristan Francis

We then went on to discuss the school he attends. He said children attend there from the age of 7 years to 18 years, and they are graded 1 to 12. When you are 16 years you have to sit a graduation exam. If you do not pass this exam, you have to leave and find another school. If you pass you continue to the last grades. Petr explained that not all schools in Russia are like this.

Petr explained that they only have to choose two additional subjects, whereas in Welsh schools we have the choice of taking four options for our GCSEs. There is no religious education or personal social education. Maths, English, Russian, German and Sciences are all compulsory in his school. Petr described the canteen at his school as being split into different grades. No food is allowed to be eaten outside the canteen and there are older students that prevent this from happening. However, Petr is friendly with some of them, who allow him to sneak passed. Petr told me that for some reason students that have opted to take P.E in his school do not like students who study IT.

Petr in Cardiff Bay

Petr is enjoying his stay in Cardiff. He finds the people very friendly and the area very lively. He is surprised that the UK contains so many different cultures and languages. He is very keen to visit all parts of the UK, especially Scotland and Northern Ireland. Petr would also like to visit China. China shares a border with Russia, but Petr lives a great distance away from that border and would have to take a train to get there.

I truly enjoyed interviewing Petr. I found him very talkative and funny. I learnt about his country and his culture. I would encourage others to make contact with people in different countries, because you can get a better understanding of other people’s lifestyles. If you just make the effort to make this link, you can join many countries together.

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About Peartree Languages

Peartree Languages is a language school located in Cardiff.