A Ghanaian medical student in Russia says learning the language helped him to not only understand the people but to bear with predicaments ranging from the cold weather to racism.

Emmanuel Tetteh, who has been living in Volgograd for three years, is proud that he learned Russian well enough to write a 2,000-word essay in that language on the topic of water and sanitation for all.

Emmanuel was among 70 university students who won a UN-backed essay contest that promoted multilingualism.

Participants had to write in one of the UN official languages—Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish—which was not their mother tongue or a language in which they had studied at the primary or secondary school levels.

Emmanuel talks to Dianne Penn about his award-winning essay and his hopes of making a mark in Africa.

Duration: 3’14”