Learn Russian in Russia

I won’t deny that learning Russian is fun —I studied for 6 weeks splitting my time between Moscow & St Petersburg before travelling to the Artic circle to experience the land of the midnight sun which was an amazing experience.

I started Russian lessons as a beginner, not a complete beginner as I’d listened to Russian CD’s, I knew the alphabet which is essential and had a few Russian lessons back in the UK (12 weeks at night school) but it was only when I got to Russia that my Russian really started to accelerate at a pace that surprised me as I didn’t realise just how much you pick up when studying in a country where Russian is spoken as you really do practice each day outside of the classroom.

Even if my confidence wasn’t that high to start with, by the end of week 2 I felt I’d made real progress as I’d been immersed in the language, I’d read metro signs, ordered coffee in cafes and heard nothing but Russian for the whole week and something was starting to click – the feeling was fantastic and a great confidence booster.  I no longer cared about looking silly when I got things wrong, I just had a go at speaking Russian and you know what – most of the time I was understood even if I did get a few funny looks to start with! 

If you learn Russian you have a chance to get a more intimate look at Russia. Taking a Russian course in Russia opens up a world of opportunities and promises to get you off the tourist trail where you can immerse yourself in the culture in a way that’s just not possible if you don’t speak Russian. 

I lived with a Russian host family which was great, I didn’t feel ‘mothered’ at all and was free to come & go as I pleased and my Russian vocabulary improved no end as you are forced to speak daily and ask for even just the basics like towels and ‘pass the salt’ – practical Russian all the way not to mention the amazing insight you have into life and culture living as a local.

Accents change as does dialect from country to country but all Russian language schools in Russia teach Russian to a level that you’d call the ‘Queen’s English’ in the UK so you don’t have to worry about where you learn Russian in Russia although it can be fun to split your Russian courses across different locations to experience life and different accents which will really help improve your Russian.

Rest assured, Russian courses are suitable for beginners to advanced Russian learners. Everyone is tested (don’t worry, there’s no gold stars or dunce hats here) on the first day before Russian lessons start so they can be placed in the right group for their level and will then progress rapidly but safe in the knowledge that their fellow classmates are at a similar Russian level to them.

Levels are generally as follows:
• Complete beginner Russian courses
• Beginner Russian courses
• Elementary Russian lessons (split into lower & upper)
• Intermediate Russian lessons (split into lower & upper)
• Advanced Russian courses (suitable for advanced levels of Russian up to fluency level)

In a month, I felt like I’d progressed my Russian from a beginner to upper elementary and was raring to go on my travels, confident I would be able to get by in day to day situations as well as being able to read and write Russian at a reasonable level if I ever needed to.

My confidence soared, I fell in love with learning the Russian language and soaked up new words and phrases every day without trying as my brain was now switched into ‘learn Russian’ mode.  Learning Russian is liberating, I felt like I was invited into the culture and countries I visited and no longer did I feel like ‘just a tourist’ and that can’t be bad when there’s an exciting culture such as this.

To book your Russian course in Russia, visit GoLearnTo.com now