Learning Russian

[freakypete]

im thinking of going to Russia or the Ukraine next summer to learn Russian (or maybe Ukrainian), but the courses ive found online seem pretty expensive. I want to go for 3 or 4 weeks but the for prices ive found i will maybe only be able to stretch to 2 weeks, which i dont think is long enough

This is kind of why i was thinking of the ukraine instead. i thought it might be a bit cheaper there, and i want to go back as i loved Lviv when i went in the summer

anyone have any suggestions on how to find it cheaper, maybe going direct to a school in the country rather than through one of these websites?

[beergal]

Try Belarus. I met someone in Kaunas who is studying there for 6 months for $1500 us including accommodation he contacted the universities directly

[tumblezweedz]

My husband did a two week winter course and a 6 week summer course in Lithuanian at Vilnius University. He arranged it through the university language department, and was very impressed. I think at that time for the winter course it was something like 400 Euro for the course with dorm residence, 600 for the course with room and board in a private home. I would think that any programme arranged through the U. directly will be much more reasonable than any "organized" course focusing on foreign students. That sounds funny, obviously the courses are designed for foreign students, but some focus more on students from Western Europe/North America and would be much more expensive than those geared to students from other parts of the world. For example, my husband's course was attended by a lot of eastern Europeans, some people from Asia, a guy from Ghana and a very few Westerners, most of whom were living and working in the country and needed to upgrade their language skills.

Based on our experience and that of other friends who have attempted to enroll at schools in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (we have a friend who attempted unsuccessfully to enroll at Taras Schevchenko University in Kyiv), it can be quite a procedure to enroll directly through the University, although generally the language departments are a little more open to the concept of foreign students than some other departments, so be prepared for a degree of hassle, but not an absolute road block.

[Esterina]

I'll be attending this university, The Russian State University for the Humanities, where intensive and extensive courses are offered all year long. I'm going on a scholarship, so have no clue of the cost though.

[freakypete]

thanks for your suggestions

Belarus doesnt appeal to me - my sister in law studied there briefly but really didnt like it. Plus id think that while it would probably be the cheapest, its probably also the hardest to enrol on, and i friend of mine found it too much hassle getting a visa to go there.

i hadnt thought about studying in lithuania, and i would love to go back, but i think it would be better to go to a russian speaking country...i looked at the vilnius university website but it looks like they only do a two week course in Russian in the summer, and i think that would be too short if im not surrounded by russian speakers all the time. it is only €330 though plus accomodation...will be one to think about for sure.

just found a 4 week lithuanian course for €600 though...might be tempted by that

I would hope that it wouldnt be so difficult in the Ukraine now, so that would be my first choice if i could find somewhere there. have looked at the websites of a lot of universities but havent had much luck yet

[beergal]

try going through the british council as they might have partnerships with universities or colleges.

[Esterina]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(freakypete @ Nov 5 2006, 03:07 PM) [snapback]144166[/snapback]</div>

i think it would be better to go to a russian speaking country. [/b]

Ukrainian speak a language very close to russian, but it is not a russian speaking country. I'm sure thought that you can find excellent courses in Ukraine.

[tumblezweedz]

^ Interestingly, our friend that studied in Ukraine studied Ukrainian for a year before hand (in the US), and when he arrived in Kyiv, all the courses were taught in Russian, so he had to quickly learn that. Not a huge step from Ukrainian, but unexpected.

If you're just interested in the experience, learning Lithuanian in Vilnius would be great, but it doesn't have tremendous practical value in the world at large, so if you want to learn an eastern European language that might serve you in the business or scholastic world, I'd guess that Russian would be a more useful selection.

However, Russian is more widely spoken in Latvia and Estonia than in Lithuania, so if you studied there, you'd probably be able to use it more on a daily basis while you were there. Still not so popular with the ethnic Latvians or Estonians...quite a can of worms that.

[indierock05]

Good luck with that, I would not even try that language

[Majestic58]

I've just started learning russian using the Rosetta Stone program... I figure, I'll learn as much as I can with this and then when I go over, I can maybe find some courses to expand on it, but this way at least I have a basis... I'm really liking the program.