Role of associations with the words «France» and «The French» in the formation of linguocultural competence of students

The article explores the associative array that arises with the words “France” and “the French” from the Russians and all the associations that arise with the word «la Russie» (Russia) from the French. For this purpose, we made a questioning among Russian and French students. The results of this questioning and analysis of correspondence at the youth forums in the social networks of France and Russia formed the basis of this study, which shows that the French think about Russians is much worse than we do about them. Despite this fact, the epoch, when the French mind associated Russias with a samovar and a bear, passes, however, the perception of our country is contrast. In Russia people think positively about France, more positively than the French about Russia. The study of associa- tions, when the appearance of one object causes the image of another associated with it, can be important and useful in the learning process. The practical significance of the work lies in the fact that the study of associations and arising with them stereotypes is relevant in our turbulent times, when the relations of France and Russia are not going through the best stages of its development, and our research can help to understand and overcome the differences. In addition, the formation of students ‘ sociolinguistic competence will be successful if the study mate- rial on the topic happens by building associations, that will contribute to the development of associative thinking, speed up the process of memorizing information.