Russian Summer Intensive

This Summer, undergraduate student Ariana Babichenko, attended an online summer intensive course for Russian language through Arizona State University. Ariana is a double major in English and Russian with a minor in philosophy. She is entering her last year at University of Hawai’i at Mānoa as a senior and will be graduating Spring of 2021. This program and its teachers are based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Ariana took daily classes which included grammar, conversation, and reading and along with these she also had the opportunity to attend virtual excursions, homestays and private tutoring sessions. This was an eight week program that lasted for most of the Summer. I had the opportunity to not only interview Ariana about her experience in this program but I also had her permission to view her classes which gave me a glimpse of her day to day schedule.

1. What was your daily schedule like?

I had to wake up around four/five in the morning from Monday through Friday. Every Monday the program organized a fun event for the students to watch and follow along. Whether it was learning how to cook a traditional Kyrgyz dish or listening to various Russian instruments. We also had the opportunity to participate in homestay every Wednesday, which allowed me to meet many different families and have lively discussions with them. Every Tuesday and Thursday I had tutoring sessions with tutors my age which led to great conversations. Some days I had to listen to recordings and others I had asynchronous assignments that needed to be done as we present those assignments every Friday. And every day Monday through Thursday I had grammar, reading, and conversation classes which were an hour each.

2. What were interesting features of the program?

Some of the more interesting features included going on virtual excursions on most Saturdays. They would take us around Kyrgyzstan showing us the popular sights. There were also a lot of activities we could virtually do that got switched every week. These activities helped us learn more about Kyrgyz and Russian culture. 

3. I know that your teachers are teaching from Kyrgyzstan, did you learn anything about Kyrgyz culture?

I learned a lot of things about Kyrgyz culture. I learned both Kyrgyzstan and Russian traditional dishes, activities, and social habits as well as the Kyrgyz national instrument, which one of the homestay families was kind enough to play for me.

4. What were your classmates like?

For the first half of the first session I was alone in all my classes and it wasn’t until the second half that I got placed with two other classmates. I was lucky enough to be placed with them as their Russian language skills were beyond mine which allowed me to learn from them. One classmate learned Russian from a university while the other spent only two months learning Russian from a private tutor, his Russian skills were impressive and I learned a lot from listening and having conversations with him.

5. What were some difficulties you faced?

It was definitely difficult waking up early even when I tried adjusting my sleep schedule. I was also juggling a full-time job and I took several Summer classes at Mānoa so I had a lot to do. Oftentimes I was sleep deprived as I had to stay up late to finish my assignments then wake up early for my classes. I never did get used to waking up early but I had great professors that helped me look forward to learning in the mornings. 

6. In what ways do you feel you have improved your Russian?

I think my Russian conversation and reading skills have improved. Twice a week for an hour and a half, I would attend tutoring sessions in which I would have conversations with my tutors about various topics. As for my reading skills, my reading and conversation class helped me improve my intonation and I feel more confident in reading out loud. I do wish I improved my grammar as that is what I struggle with the most but it was not the program's fault. Even though I was placed at this level, from taking a placement test, I still lacked the basic grammar skills as I never learned them before and each week was a struggle to keep up.

7. Would you recommend this program to other students?

Yes! I met amazing people through this program and all my professors were great. I will miss learning from them! The professors are very accommodating and welcoming as well as everyone else I had the pleasure of learning from. I wish I could have actually gone to Kyrgyzstan but nonetheless, I still felt very welcomed and plan on traveling there one day as I have made many friends who are kind enough to open their doors for me.