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Worth spending a year in Russia | ||
Tags: Russia | Living abroad | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| Desacrator48 Groupie United States Joined 5118 days ago 93 posts - 127 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 9 of 26 16 December 2010 at 8:08pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I hope you are aware of the current racial tensions in Moscow and Russia right now. It is pretty serious and you should also take that into consideration. Students of different backgrounds are being advised to stay indoors and not go out...which would be detrimental to your efforts of being immersed in Russia.
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| Siberiano Tetraglot Senior Member Russian Federation one-giant-leap.Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6303 days ago 465 posts - 696 votes Speaks: Russian*, English, ItalianC1, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Serbian | Message 10 of 26 16 December 2010 at 8:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
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It's in Moscow and St. Petersburg mostly, where they have a dozen of football teams and nutty fans.
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| chelovek Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5897 days ago 413 posts - 461 votes 5 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian | Message 11 of 26 16 December 2010 at 9:54pm | IP Logged | |||||
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You might want to consider Novosibirsk. The city proper is modernized, large, and has plenty to offer in terms of entertainment, art, and sight-seeing - granted, it's not really a "beautiful" city, but it's certainly charming. A full year of study at their state university would cost a fraction of what you'd pay in Moscow or St. Pete's. You'd also be in a much more immersive language environment, since there are far fewer English speakers there than in the tourist hot-spots. Also - and this is a big plus - Siberians are fairly laid-back by Russian standards, and perhaps by extension there is a lot less crime and violent insanity in the region. (That said, "laid back" by Russian standards still qualifies as "pretty wild" by Western standards; you can still expect to be in for some culture shock.)
Some caveats: -Very cold, long winters. This might rightfully be a dealbreaker for you. -Lots of aggressive insects during summer months if you live near the forest. -The state university is in the middle of the forest in a large college-town-type area. There are good clubs, a couple of good restaurants, and plenty of scientific resources to explore, but most of the good stuff is in the actual city, which is about 30 minutes away. That said, travel between the two areas is incredibly easy. If you do want to live in the city, you should look at the state technical university, which is in the center. You might also want to check out Vladivostok. I can't vouch for it personally, but it's a much prettier, much milder place from what I've seen and heard. It's where I'd like to go if I ever move back to Russia. Edited by chelovek on 16 December 2010 at 10:02pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| DavidW Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6336 days ago 318 posts - 458 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French, Italian, Persian, Malay Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Portuguese, German, Urdu | Message 12 of 26 16 December 2010 at 10:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I spent about 5 months this year at the Minsk State Linguistic University, in Belarus.
It might take some persistence to sort out the paperwork, but it's worth it. The teaching is excellent, Minsk is a nice city, inexpensive fees and accommodation in the student residence with lots of pretty girls for $20 a month. Can't complain. If you like I can post some more details. Getting there is also not difficult: a cheap flight to vilnius/kaunas in lithuainia and then get a four-hour train to Minsk. The site is here: http://international.mslu.by/ Other places you might consider is ukraine (no visa needed for europeans). I've also heard good things about pyatigorsk. After a year you'll probably be chatting easily with people one-to-one, reading newspapers and stories for the general meaning, but still struggling a bit to follow TV and join in group conversations with natives on more complex topics. Edited by DavidW on 16 December 2010 at 10:09pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| chelovek Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5897 days ago 413 posts - 461 votes 5 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian | Message 13 of 26 16 December 2010 at 10:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
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To address the language aspect of your question, well...a lot of Asian students go to Russia without any prior knowledge of the language. After a year, they usually are at an intermediate level and (more importantly) they tend to be very comfortable with everyday communication--far more than they would be if they had just taken a year's worth of normal courses back in their home country.
So, you'll definitely know a formidable amount of Russian after a year. The bigger issue is whether you're up to the task of coping with the language barrier and culture shock. Edited by chelovek on 16 December 2010 at 10:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| chelovek Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5897 days ago 413 posts - 461 votes 5 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Russian | Message 16 of 26 17 December 2010 at 12:31am | IP Logged | |||||
Russians generally don't walk around with a smile, but as far as personal interaction goes, they actually tend to be warmer and more open than Westerners. Neo-Nazis target all non-whites, regardless of age, gender, social status, or any other thing you can think of. A modern, young Westerner's idea of racism is being eyed suspiciously because of the way he dresses and speaks. Racism in Russia means a group of thugs jumping you on the street because of your skin color, stabbing you to death, and - if they're even arrested - getting out of prison in a few years. It's "real" racism, and if you aren't white, you need to be wary of it at all times in Russia. That said, most of the intense Neo-Nazi idiocy is concentrated in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the surrounding areas, and even there, we're still talking about a tiny (albeit fatally significant) slice of the population. A white person in Russia will probably be more concerned with gopniki (general lowlives and criminals; kind of like chavs) and immigrant criminals. Don't get me wrong, though: Russia's great. You just need to be aware of its specific dangers and act accordingly. Edited by chelovek on 17 December 2010 at 12:35am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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