REVIEW: Yuan Yanping. Images of Zodiacal Animals in Chinese and Russian Phraseology: Linguocultural and Linguodidactic Aspects: Monograph. Volgograd, Sphere LLC, 2023. 118 p.

The review highlights the unique and informative nature of the book, the author of which is an expert in the field of linguistic and cultural studies and has extensive experience in teaching Russian as a foreign language. The monograph examines the linguistic and cultural aspects of Chinese and Russian phraseology in comparative terms, and provides practical recommendations for teaching Russian phraseology to foreign students. The relevance of this monograph lies in the author’s holistic approach to the process of assimilation of Russian phraseological units by Chinese students using the example of set expressions containing the names of zodiacal animals. The author’s scheme for identifying cultural connotations of a word as a part of phraseological units using semantic, syntactic and pragmatic analysis, which is supported by data from an associative experiment, is of value. The author’s contribution to the development of linguodidactic principles of mastering foreign language phraseology, and specifically, the development of a strategy and algorithm for the assimilation of Russian phraseological units by Chinese students, is particularly significant. Numerous examples that reveal the nuances of meanings associated with zodiacal animals in both Russian and Chinese linguistic cultures are extremely interesting, as they help the Russian reader to get to know and to some extent comprehend rich Chinese culture.