Standard Course,

I decided to learn Russian for pleasure! I thought it was a beautiful language and like nothing I’d ever studied before and I really wanted to get a good grasp of it; and where better to do that than in Russia?
I found the Russian language school staff really friendly and learning was the best bit! The college was central, so after school you could go pretty much anywhere — a museum or a bar, depending on how the lessons had gone!
The family I lived with were friendly and very patient with me, which was great because my Russian at the beginning was non-existent. When I arrived I could not form a sentence, when I left, I was comfortable with the language and could hold conversations without stressing! It was really total immersion in the language and culture and I would love to go back.
A Gap Year course enabled me to combine going to a different country and experiencing a different way of life with actually learning the language and living there. I was not a tourist who ‘does’ St Petersburg in a day, but a student. You feel as though it’s your town towards the end and because you’re learning the language, you feel so much more comfortable and welcomed, rather than just imposing on everyone.

Kathryn