After a month of virtual study of Russian as a second language through RGGU, I can confidently say that my Russian has improved greatly this summer.  I was quite skeptical when beginning the course about the effectiveness of the online medium in learning a foreign language.  Though there is certainly no replacing immersion in Russia as the best way to learn the language, I would be hard pressed to imagine a better alternative (given the current circumstances) than the RGGU courses I have been privileged to take online.  

One of my primary concerns when beginning this course was the question of accessibility to course materials through an electronic medium.  Would I be missing out on textbooks, written exercises, or handouts I would have been given in person?  Recognizing that all universities were ultimately unequipped to confront an unprecedented pandemic and to convert so quickly into an online format, I expected a somewhat watered-down version of summer Russian.  Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by the ease with which RGGU faculty equipped me with all the materials I would need (including access to RGGU’s textbook database) to successfully grow my knowledge of Russian, and their smooth, skillful integration of electronic media into their presentations and our interactive lessons.  I felt as close to a “regular” student as possible during my courses.

I have found each and every one of my professors to be an exceptional, approachable educator and clearly quite knowledgeable about their respective subjects.  Not one of my 3 professors has left me feeling unchallenged, wanting, or as if I needed to rely on myself for research, learning, etc.  I can say without hesitation that my grasp of the Russian language has grown both deeper and more far-reaching than I ever could have imagined in so few weeks of study.  My professors have introduced me to facets of the Russian language I was surprised I had never been acquainted with as a relatively advanced student.  In a way, I feel as if my conception of my own competency in Russian has decreased during this experience, but only because I am being faced with and challenged by intricacies of the language of which I had been completely ignorant.  I know without a doubt that these courses, while teaching me how much I do not know, are concurrently pushing me much closer to my goal of the ability to speak fluent Russian.

Culturally, the virtual summer courses I have been taking have been fascinating.  I briefly spent time immersed in Russian language and culture as a 2018 Summer NSLI-Y participant, and have been excited and illuminated as I am (virtually) exposed to Russian culture through the ability to understand cultural presentations more easily, a greater vocabulary through which I am able to discuss culture more readily, and insight into intricacies of the language itself which unfailingly come with their own cultural ramifications.   This program has renewed my desire to travel to Russia in the near future and continue to learn as much as I am able about the culture and language of Russia.  

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to study Russian with RGGU virtually this summer, and cannot wait to put my new skills to work as I dive deeper into my study of Russian. I would certainly recommend this experience to someone wishing to study Russian, and certainly do not take the hard work of my RGGU professors and those who contributed to this program in various ways for granted.  I know I got the best virtual education possible this summer.