St. Petersburg, Russia--Do it. Past Review
By Michael R (Russian, Trinity University) for
CIEE: St. Petersburg - Russian Language
I learned a lot about Russian culture as well as language, and really some idea of what it is to be Russian. At the same time, I thought a lot about America and what it means to be American, as well as myself and what I thought about some of these things.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
In one of my classes, there was a substitute for a few classes and he was really bad because he spoke very quickly and in a monotone and even the most advanced students got very little out of it. That was basically the exception though: the teachers are great, they are very nice and helpful. All the classes are taught in Russian, but in such a way that we could keep up. There were several small essay assignments, but because the classes were taught all in Russian, we had the necessary vocabulary and grammar to write them easily. The grading is fairly easy. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
They were very knowledgeable, helpful and nice. They were very helpful with helping students get involved in the country in ways that may have been unusual. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
I really enjoyed my host family. I never felt very unsafe. The apartment was small by American standards, but was very comfortable and spacious. |
| * Food: |
Go to a produkty and pick up those disc-breads, they're cheap and great. Teremok is also a good staple. Restaurants are fairly expensive--I'd go there only for special occasions, and avoid more Western-style food (eg Mexican). There's a good Georgian restaurant on one of the Sovetskaya Ulitsas. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
Lot's of great field trips and excursions. We were able to go to the Nabokov apartment museum on a day when it was technically closed because of connections through one of our teachers. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
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| * Safety: |
I had some pretty intense colds, but that was pretty much it. Wash your hands often and don't go to class if you're super sick because you're going to get everyone else sick too. Gargle salt-water, and if you have a cold, lay off the drinking and staying up late for a week. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | Maybe 1000 rubles a week on average? You could easily spend more if you drank much more than I did. |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Withdraw a lot of rubles when the exchange rate is really good. This will also reduce fees at the atm. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | None |
| Language acquisition improvement? |
Our classes were taught in Russian, we lived with host families which often knew very little English. We were also given the opportunity to have conversation partners, with whom we could practice Russian and they could practice English. I felt that these were very helpful. The only drawback was that the students on the program would typically speak English with each other. |
| If applicable, to what degree did your living situation aid your language acquisition? |
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Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | Spend as much time as possible with Russians and speaking Russian. |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Russian Grammar |
| Course Department: | |
| Instructor: | Marina Grigorovna |
| Instruction Language: | Russian |
| Comments: | This class was challenging, but Marina Grigorovna was really great! She is so nice and helpful. Often, Fridays were set aside for one-on-one help where we could address places where we are struggling or questions that we have. Her style of teaching is very good. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: | No, it was fine. |
