One of the advantages of higher education in Russia is the opportunity to study in English. Many foreign students choose English-speaking curricula. Very often, in order to save their time they give up training in a preparatory course before the main program not understanding the importance of learning Russian. Such students face the problem that only professors and their groupmates speak English to them, but in everyday life they go to public places where everyone speaks Russian.
And what if you need medical help, but you can't explain what exactly hurts you? Or what if you are lost and don't know how to get to the university? To have an interpreter following you around? In this case, the best way is to learn Russian at a basic level to feel comfortable in everyday life. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to convey this idea to a student when he has not yet come to Russia.
Students understand the need to speak Russian only after arrival. This year we conducted several introductory tours for our freshmen, during which they all asked us where you can learn Russian, as many realized the need for Russian at the airport.
Where to learn Russian?
You can consider individual sessions with a tutor. This option has a number of advantages, which include a convenient schedule and individual approach. As always there is the other side of the coin. Very often the price for individual sessions is much higher than for group. The student has no opportunity to check the level of competence of the tutor. It is also worth remembering that we need language primarily for communication, so it is very important to model speech situations not only in the format of dialogues and monologues, but also in the format of discussions, which can only be done when learning a language in a group.
Specialized language courses for foreign students at universities. This method implies that professionals with specialized education will deal with you. The programs of such courses meet state educational quality standards. Group sessions allow to communicate not only with the professor, but also with groupmates. You can hear how they respond, what mistakes they make or vice versa, which allows you to learn the language more efficiently and quickly.
During the first year of study, it is quite difficult to combine additional classes with the main ones, as the workload on students is very heavy. We recommend taking an intensive course in Russian in the summer, when there are no more classes at the university and there is much more free time.
Our company is an official partner of 40 universities. For GE students there are special discounts for summer language courses at partner universities.