About the project

The international information and educational project "Modern Russian" has been successfully operating since 2007 and contributes to improving the level of speech culture among the residents of 638 cities, 366 of which are in the Russian Federation and 272 in neighbouring and other countries. The portal www.oshibok-net.ru is visited by residents of 154 countries, while residents of 29 countries use the project's consulting services daily.

The launch of the information and educational project "Modern Russian" took place in December 2007, when, on the initiative of the rector of Omsk State Pedagogical University and with the active participation of enthusiastic teachers, the first areas of the project were launched. In March 2008, the linguistic assistance service was launched.

During its existence, the project has successfully implemented a range of practical philology activities and involved representatives of both the philological community and the general public in Russia and abroad.

In September 2015, "Modern Russian" became a part of the MKR-Media  holding company, where one of the project's key objectives became providing assistance to journalists writing and broadcasting in Russian. As part of MKR-Media, the project gained the opportunity to create educational radio and video content, as well as specialised internet resources promoting literacy and speech culture.

Since 2022, the project has been operating under the auspices of the international media network TV BRICS. As part of the network, "Modern Russian" implements various activities aimed at popularising the Russian language, literature and culture, including international linguistic and regional studies teleconferences with leading universities of the BRICS+ countries.

The international information and educational project "Modern Russian" is the winner of the All-Russian competition of intellectual projects "Derzhava" ("Держава") in the nomination "Russian World" ("Русский мир") and of the All-Russian competition of PR projects for the preservation and strengthening of the position of the Russian language in the Russian Federation. The "Modern Russian" project has twice been a grant recipient of the Russkiy Mir Foundation. The project's experience has been recommended by the Russkiy Mir Foundation for dissemination throughout Russia.

Close cooperation with the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute and the Russkiy Mir Foundation allows the project to establish and strengthen international ties, which are necessary for the effective promotion of the Russian language in Russia and abroad.

In terms of the range of practical philology activities aimed at promoting correct speech among the general public, the project has no analogues in Russia or abroad.

The primary motivation of the creators of the "Modern Russian" project was the desire to raise the status of the Russian language, draw public attention to the current state of linguistic culture, and provide real support to all those in need of linguistic assistance.

The project's goals are: to raise the status of the modern Russian language, to develop public interest in speech culture, to counteract harmful trends towards declining literacy that threaten the Russian language and culture as a whole, and to provide assistance to those studying and teaching Russian as a foreign language.

All areas of practical philology implemented within the project are addressed both to the general public and to specific professional communities. They are accessible to various age and social groups, diverse in subject matter, and implemented using modern communication channels.

Since March 2008, the project has been operating an emergency linguistic assistance service: free consultations with linguists in all areas of linguistics for residents of Russia, as well as neighbouring and other countries. This area of activity helps to improve literacy and the quality of the population's spoken and written language. Linguists' consultations can be obtained on the "VKontakte" Questions and Answers page (this communication channel has involved residents of 638 cities around the world in the project).

Over seventeen years of operation (since March 2008), more than 200,000 requests from the public have been recorded. The main audience is working people in the Russian Federation aged 23 to 55, as well as schoolchildren and university students. Since March 1, 2016, philologists from Kaliningrad and Vladivostok – employees of two federal universities (Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University and Far Eastern Federal University) – have joined the service. The service's operating hours were extended to 17 hours.

Questions can be asked on the project's portal, as well as sent by e-mail to lingvist@tvbrics.com, in the project's group on the "VKontakte" social network.

The goal of the "Our Portal" area is to create an internet resource for promoting the Russian language in Russia and abroad. The resource www.oshibok-net.ru was launched as part of the project in 2008. After "Modern Russian" became part of the MKR-Media holding company, the website was transformed into a portal. The launch of the new version of the portal in June 2016 was timed to coincide with Russian Language Day and the celebration of the birthday of A.S. Pushkin.

The portal's mission is to create and accumulate a high-quality intellectual product in the field of philology and media communications, aimed at improving literacy levels and, consequently, increasing the professional competence of users.

Areas of application: journalism, PR, education, self-education.

The portal's goal is to provide assistance to representatives of various professional communities engaged in journalistic, educational, managerial, legislative, and other activities that require skills in using spoken and written language correctly.

• to provide user-friendly reference electronic educational services and resources;
• to offer consultative support to users;
• to highlight the best achievements in the field of modern philology, journalism, and communication studies;
• to contribute to the popularization and promotion of the Russian language in Russia and abroad.

The main principles of the portal are accessibility, informativeness, promptness, and relevance.

The site is actively visited by residents of various countries around the world: Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Canada, Greece, the USA, Australia, Spain, Italy, Finland, Norway, etc. (over 150 countries in total).

The goal of the "Palette of the Russian Language" direction was to involve children in active practical work aimed at developing an interest in the Russian language. Students from Omsk art schools and schools of arts produced a series of animated films about the Russian language. The cartoons, created by children and for children, were made using various techniques (puppet animation, hand-drawn animation, and Flash technology). In 2010, the "Palette of the Russian Language" direction expanded, attracting not only students from art schools but also pupils from general education schools, gymnasiums, and lyceums in the city and the region to the activities of creating animated films. The best works were awarded diplomas and prizes.

In April 2011, with financial support from the Russkiy Mir Foundation, a drawing and poster competition was held within the framework of the "Palette of the Russian Language" direction, in which about two hundred schoolchildren from the city and the region, aged 10 to 17, took part. Based on the best children's works, an electronic catalogue with interpretations of proverbs and sayings about language and speech, entitled "Images of the Russian Word", was created for those studying Russian as a foreign language.

In 2014, the project launched a new direction: with the support of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, a multimedia educational resource entitled "Closer to Russia. Omsk" was created for distance learning of Russian as a foreign language, which received many positive responses from colleagues abroad. This resource is intended for those who study Russian as a foreign language and wish to improve their level of linguistic, speech, and country studies competence.

The authors of the resource have sought, by drawing on regional material, to contribute to the formation of a holistic understanding of Russia among those who are interested in a broader understanding of the linguistic and cultural picture of the Russian world.

The project has repeatedly received diplomas and awards at the federal level.

The project was awarded a diploma in the nomination "Best Project" ("Лучший проект") of the XII "Silver Archer" ("Серебряный лучик") National Award for the development of public relations (Moscow, January 2009).

In December 2009, at the All-Russian competition of intellectual projects "Derzhava" ("Держава") in Moscow (founders – the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Russkiy Mir Foundation, and the Unity for Russia Foundation), the "Modern Russian" project took first place in the "Russian World" ("Русский мир") nomination.

In 2012, the project became the winner of the All-Russian competition of PR projects aimed at preserving and strengthening the position of the Russian language in the Russian Federation. The competition was held on the initiative of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation as part of measures supporting the Federal Target Programme "Russkij yazyk" ("Русский язык"). "Modern Russian" received the winner's diploma in two categories: "The Best Communicative Method of Establishing Feedback with Target Audiences" ("Лучший коммуникативный прием установления обратной связи с целевыми аудиториями") and "The Best Use of PR Tools" ("Лучшее применение PR-инструментария").

In 2011 and 2014, the project received grants from the Russkiy Mir Foundation.

The experience of the project is recommended by the Russkiy Mir Foundation for dissemination throughout Russia.

In 2016, the project was awarded a diploma in the "Educational Programme" ("Просветительская программа") nomination of the Annual Broadcasting Award "Crystal Microphone" ("Хрустальный микрофон") for the series of radio programmes "Neskuchnyj russkij" ("Нескучный русский").

In 2018, the portal of the international information and educational project "Modern Russian" topped the ranking of Russian educational internet resources on the Russian language.

In 2025, the project became the winner in the "Best International Project" ("Лучший международный проект") nomination of the "We Speak, Write and Think in Russian!" ("Говорим, пишем, думаем по-русски!") competition, organised by the Union of Journalists of Moscow.

The participation of "Modern Russian" staff in various international forums made it possible to present the project's materials to a broad professional audience. The project was presented at the Consulate of the Republic of Kazakhstan (April 2009, Omsk) and at the Forum of Cross-Border Universities (May 2009, Astana), where it received a strong response from an audience of interested politicians and researchers.

The project activities attracted considerable interest among participants of:

• the XII Congress of the International Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature (MAPRYAL) in Shanghai;
• the conference "Russia: History and Language" (Pecs, Hungary);
• the seminar for Russian language teachers at the Teacher Training Institute of Odesa (Ukraine);
• the VII Slavic Readings in Chisinau, held in the format of the international conference "Theoretical Problems of Cultural Interaction in a Multiethnic Environment" under the auspices of MAPRYAL and the Eurasian Association of Universities;
• the VII International Scientific Conference "Language, Culture, Society" (Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow);
• the International Forum "Science and Educational Space: A Vector of Cross-Border Development";
• the II All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Functioning of the Russian Language as a State Language in Modern Conditions" (Moscow);
• the IV Congress of the Russian Society of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature (ROPRYAL) "Dynamics of Linguistic and Cultural Processes in Modern Russia" and the First Pedagogical Forum "Russian Language in the Modern School" held within its framework (Sochi);
• the V–XVII Assemblies of the Russian World (Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Sochi, Suzdal, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Moscow, 2011–2025);
• the XIII Congress of MAPRYAL "Russian Language and Literature in the Space of World Culture" (Granada, Spain, 2015);
• the International Conference "Russian Grammar: Description, Teaching, Testing" (Helsinki, Finland, 2017);
• the Expert and Media Forum "A New Vector of Humanitarian Partnership in the Union State" (Moscow, 2017);
• the XIV Congress of MAPRYAL "The Russian Word in a Multilingual World" (Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, 2019);
• the International Conference of Moscow State Pedagogical University "A Modern Perspective on Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language" (Moscow, 2023–2025);
• the Kostomarov Forums of the Pushkin State Russian Language Institute (Moscow, 2022–2025);
• the International Conference "Russian Language, Literature, Translation and Culture in the XXI Century: Reassessment and Prospects" (New Delhi, India, 2025).

The materials of the "Modern Russian" project were included in the collection "Innovative Russia" ("Инновационная Росссия") and published in the journals "Russia's Strategy" ("Стратегия России"), "National Priorities of Russia" ("Национальные приоритеты России"), and "Union State" ("Союзное государство"). Publications about the project also appeared in the journals "Russian World.ru" ("Русский мир.ru"), "Advertising Laboratory" ("Лаборатория рекламы"),  "Russian Language Abroad" ("Русский язык за рубежом"), the collection "50 Best Projects of the XII National Award for the Development of Public Relations "Silver Archer"" ("50 лучших проектов XII Национальной премии в области развития общественных связей "Серебряный Лучник""), and other publications.