Established in 1972, the department of scandinavian languages, dutch and finnish has trained hundreds of specialists, mostly translators and interpreters, many of them now working at universities, in various government agencies, in Russian and foreign companies, in the mass media and in the diplomatic service.

   For many years the department was headed by Professor Georgi SHATKOV. Since 1994 it has been headed by Professor Tatyana Drenyasova, a graduate of the Maurice Thorez Institute of Foreign Languages, now known as Moscow Linguistic University. Today there are 14 teachers at the department, among them three Doctors and two Candidates of Sciences in Philology.

   The Department of Scandinavian Languages, Dutch and Finnish offers a wide range of courses:
- practical Swedish (as a first or second foreign language);
- practical Danish (as a second foreign language);
- practical Norwegian (as a second foreign language);
- practical Dutch (as a first foreign language);
- practical Finnish (as a first foreign language);
- practical translation and interpretation;
- the history, culture and geography of Sweden;
- the history, culture and geography of Denmark;
- the history, culture and geography of Norway;
- the history, culture and geography of The Netherlands and Belgium;
- the history, culture and geography of Finland
- a basic course in the theory of the language (for those studying Danish,
Norwegian, and Swedish as a second foreign language).

   Besides, for those who study Swedish, Dutch or Finnish as a first foreign language:
- the history of Swedish literature;
- the history of Dutch literature;
- the history of Finnish literature;
- a comprehensive theoretical course, including the history of the language,
phonetics, grammar, lexicology and stylistics;
- special theory of translation.

   In the teaching process the department makes expensive use of the textbooks and teaching guides written by its staff members. Some of them, such as the textbook in Norwegian by G. Shatkov and V. Kolesnikov and T. Drenyasova and L. Shetkova's textbook in Dutch, are used at other higher schools as well. Most of the teachers also work as translators and interpreters.

   Research is an important part in the work of the department. In 2004 the teachers and postgraduate students published a collection of articles under the title 'The Languages of Northern Europe and the Practice of Teaching". The teachers working at the department regularly take part in various conferences and symposiums. In the last few years one teacher was awarded the doctora degree in philology and three postgraduates successfully defended their candidate's theses.

   The Department of Scandinavian Languages, Dutch and Finnish is engaged in cooperation projects with universities in Finland, the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and Belgium. It also maintains close ties with the Swedish Institute (Svenska Institutet), the Danish Cultural Institute (Det Danske kulturinstitut), the Dutch Language Union (De Nederlandse Taalunie), the Finnish Centre for International Mobility (CIMO) and the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education (SIU).

   The department renders assistance to the Moscow Linguistic University's Centre of the Dutch Language and Culture, sponsored by the university and the embassies of the Netherlands and Belgium. The centre offers courses in Dutch that have been attended by over 300 people interested in the Dutch language and culture.