Summer School in Moscow

Sarah : 2 wks Standard Course

I knew it would be a short course, so I didn’t expect to learn more than some basic grammar and words, just enough to make simple sentences.  In general, I didn’t really know what to expect apart from what the CESA Briefing Pack said about Moscow itself.

Linguistically I’d say that yes my expectations were met and more in the way they taught us, the lessons encouraged us to go over what we’d learnt in the previous ones, as well as introducing new words. I enjoyed the lessons.

I enjoyed the lessons as the teachers explained things well and encouraged everyone to speak.  Even during breaks or after lessons ended if there was something I wanted to know about the grammar or certain words they were eager to help and answer any questions.  There was a good atmosphere in class generally. Talking to other students this seemed to be true across all of the Russian language courses.

I felt very comfortable in the college, despite it being quite a small Russian language school.  The staff and teachers were all friendly and approachable.  Around the school itself there were plenty of places to eat, banks and it wasn’t far from the metro station either.

Everyone in my class and the people I met outside of classes were all very friendly, everyone spoke to each other.

It felt quite safe near the school and the Kremlin.  It is a good destination for a course and is a relatively cheap place for eating out and sight seeing.

There seemed to be something socially to suit everyone in Moscow.  There were a few good restaurants near to the school that I went to quite regularly with a group of students from school.  There was always somewhere to go.  I went to a theatre opposite the Bolshoi Theatre to see Swan Lake one evening.  The old Arbat street was also fantastic, there was always something going on down there, a great place to buy souvenirs too.  I ended up spending less that I thought I would while I was there, despite going out to several places, mainly around the Kremlin.

The host accommodation didn’t work for me, but I asked to move and I was delighted with the shared apartment I was transferred to.  The main problem with the hostess was really the travelling from the metro station to the apartment by bus.

At first I didn’t know what to expect as I’d never gone abroad to do a course like this with someone like CESA Languages, but I was really happy with the assistance offered by CESA’s friendly staff, and the material sent to me before I went, which I found very helpful.

Yes I think I would go again, definitely.  And I would recommend it to others, as it was a great experience, far better than simply taking a course in this country and not getting a chance to apply it.  It was a motivation to remember what we were taught as we had to use the language to get around every day!