In the assembly hall of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the French Institute of the Embassy of France in our country summed up the results of the Olympiad dedicated to the 30^th anniversary of the French language in Turkmenistan. The venue for this event was not chosen by chance - in this higher education institution, the study of foreign languages is a priority.

In the hall are the participants of the Olympiad who reached the finals, from all five velayats of the country. These are students of three universities, students of seven Ashgabat secondary schools and eight velayat schools. The best of the best were invited to the final round and the announcement of the results. Rector of the IIR of the MFA G. Yusupova opened the ceremony, addressing the audience in English. The Ambassador of the French Republic to Turkmenistan F. Merlin, who replaced her at the podium, continued his speech in French. French, English, Turkmen and Russian are a distinctive feature of this multilingual event.

A bit of history. This year marks 30 years of systematic study of the French language in Turkmenistan. The impetus for this event was the official visit in 1994 of the then President of France François Mitterrand, during which the French Embassy in our country was opened. Since that year, the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan introduced the French language into the curriculum of higher and secondary education. In 2015, the Cultural Centre of the Embassy of France was renamed the French Institute, as it identified Francophonie as a key area of its activity. The staff of the French Institute systematically organises competitions and olympiads among students and pupils in the French language.

The nomination of the olympiad dedicated to the 30^th anniversary of the study of the French language in Turkmenistan included spelling, essay and song. The first place in the essay competition was taken by Aynur Kulova, a graduate of the Turkmen-Russian School named after A.S. Pushkin. She read an excerpt from her essay from the stage.

It is noteworthy that the vocal competition was opened by the famous pop artists Maysa Nyyazova and Dovran Shammyyev. With their inherent charm, they performed a song from the repertoire of Barbara Pravi «Vezalya». The participants of the Olympiad prepared especially carefully for this nomination and the competition turned into a concert. A costumed scene from the life of French artists was played out, a song from a film and other popular French songs were performed. The winner in this nomination was a student of the IMO MFA Mahri Guzychyyeva, who performed the song «I love you» from the repertoire of Lara Fabian.

The final round of the Olympiad turned into a holiday with many gifts that the laureates and all the participants of the Olympiad received for winning places.

It should be noted that in our time, communication between peoples of different countries is expanding every year. French is one of the five most widely spoken languages, and knowledge of it opens up great career prospects for Turkmen youth.