Thread: russian immerson program

hey everyone, i'm looking to go to russia this summer for a month or so and i was wondering if anyone knew any good (and cheap) immersion programs that would give me something to do and maybe a place to stay.

thanks!

Russia is a big country.

..yes, i am aware of this :P. i was thinking along the lines of moscow or st. petersberg since it's easier to get to, but really, i'm open to almost any place as long as it has roads

Originally Posted by chaika

Russia is a big country.

You totally ignored the question.

I'm interested in immersion programs as well. Answers would be awesome.

Can you give us some background on your level of russian proficiency?

I've done some research in the past. Immersion programs through a university were a lot of money (in the thousands US).. It may just be cheaper/easier to get some temporary housing, maybe enroll in a local course and talk with as many russians as possible. The other bit of non-expert advice I have is to stay away from anyone not speaking russian. You will find examples via blogs and such of people who enrolled in an immersion program, only to spend all the time in the foreign country speaking with their classmates in their native language. They studied the language during the day, of course, but you can do that back home.. So maybe stay away from large expat zones of moscow and st. petes?

my russian is alright.. enough to get around. i want to go in the summer, so it would probably improve by the time i go

I went to this one in Moscow for a month: http://www.ruslanguage.ru/ . I stayed at a homestay. You could eat on site at the dining hall, which I did for lunch. Depending on your language skill, you could take the minimum amount of class hours (hence lower the cost) and then hang out, travel around on the metro. It's about half an hour to the center.

I spent a month in Moscow (via Ziegler and Partner, http://studyrussian.com/) - I also did the home-stay approach. The home-stay was much better for my practical language skills than the lessons. We spent most of the lessons on literature and poetry and such. I didn't mind that (I quite liked it), but the conversations I had with the gal that owned the apartment are what I value most of all as far as practical language skills are concerned. We got along quite well though and she was always glad to converse. I suppose there's an element of luck there, where you might get placed with somebody who isn't quite as social.

If I were to go back for a month or more again, I'm not sure I'd take the classes. However, I'm not really sure what I'd do if I didn't. Being at the University every day and having a regular routine was valuable and a source of social interactions I'm not sure I'd've had otherwise (though to be fair I'm not that gregarious). Should I return, I might not go the one-on-one lessons route, though, and rather opt for group lessons or for less frequent one-on-one lessons. I think most of the value is just in being there. This is particularly true, in my estimation, if you are at or past the point where doing drills and exercises from text-books is producing diminishing returns. If that's the case, though, a suitable group might not be available depending on your timing. Most of the English speaking students there during my tenure were beginners.

As for Ziegler and Partner, I thought the service they provided was great. The only problem I encountered was that, due to the length of my stay, I had to get a student visa and there were some delays with the visa paperwork. To be fair, though, I think it was mostly bad timing. The people were quite friendly, everything I arranged and paid for was delivered as expected. I got the feeling that the folks at Ziegler enjoyed their work. It was a fair amount of money, though. If you do opt for the lessons, don't be shy about changing your teacher if it isn't working out for you.

Good luck.

If you do go back to Russia I suggest that you take one on one lessons for an hour or two a day instead of going to a formal school. You can get private lessons for about 350 roubles an hour which is cheaper than the schools. You can try these in St Petersburg
http://www.easyrussian.ru
It's just a couple of women who usually teach at the University who also teach on the side. They meet you at various places around the city, coffee shops etc. at your convenience. Negotiate your own price with them.