Vladimir Shiltsev, a former NSU graduate now working at Fermilab (US), inspired researchers in the neighborhood to write the Total Dictation and now shares his impressions about the event in Chicago.
鈥楾he dictation was conducted on two grounds, Chicago downtown and the suburbs. We, in the suburbs,鈥� reports Vladimir, 鈥榤ade an outstanding bunch. The average degree of the participants was as high as Ph.D., with professors and doctors comprising about half of the audience. The dictation at the renowned Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (named after an Italian physicist who was awarded a Nobel Prize) was organized by Yury Eidelman, a nuclear physicist who, while working at NSU, has educated a whole generation of scientists. The conductor of the dictation was also quite handy, a scientist with Ph.D. in linguistics, Elena Pavlova.鈥�
鈥楴ot only did the participants check their level of literacy in Russian, but also they enjoyed Russian books by such writers as Ivanov, Bykov, Krusanov, Gelasimov, Illichevsky and Makanin, as well as some books on Russian history. In addition, the visitors of the event were offered a guided tour of the laboratory, and numerous NSU graduates present were glad to join NSU Union, the alumni association launched at their alma mater,鈥� writes Vladimir Shiltsev in his letter.
The campaign on checking the level of literacy, the Total Dictation, was held on 12 April in 350 cities spread over 45 countries around the world and attracted a lot of different people including astronauts at the ISS and polar explorers at Russian polar stations. Traditionally, the main testing ground of the event was NSU as the originator of the event.
