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Language Programs

Russian

Russian Program Photos The University of Virginia's Russian Summer Language Institute (June 13 - August 6, 2010) is an intensive program offering a twelve-credit course covering the equivalent of first- and second-year Russian. The approach is proficiency-based, using Golosa as the primary text.

Attendance in all three sessions (morning, afternoon, and evening) is required of all students, regardless of whether they are enrolled for credit or non-credit. Furthermore, every student, regardless of type of enrollment, must earn a passing grade in each class of the first half of the SLI in order to participate in the second half of the program.

Summer 2010 will be the thirty year anniversary of the University of Virginia's Summer Russian Language Institute. The Institute is unusual in offering the equivalent of not one, but two years of Russian in the eight and one-half week Summer Session. Participants in the Institute earn 12 University of Virginia credits, and those who are regular University of Virginia students take RUSS 3010 and 3020 in the academic year following the Institute, should they wish to continue with the language. Students completing the program should be prepared to profit fully from the experience of study abroad.

The Russian Summer Language Institute welcomes applications from high school students.

Russian Program Director
Mark J. Elson (BA, University of Michigan;
MA and PhD, Harvard University).

Summer 2010 will be Mr. Elson's 30th with the Russian SLI. He is a professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University. His research interests include general linguistics and Balkan linguistics, especially the history and structure of Macedonian and Bulgarian ( Balkan Slavic languages) and Romanian (a Balkan Romance language). He is also interested in the history and structure of Spanish and Italian. In addition to his research, he enjoys language teaching, and looks forward each summer to the challenge of completing 12 credits (the equivalent of first and second year) of Russian in 9 weeks.

Student Comments:

  • The Russian Summer Language Institute was an amazing experience.  The program delved into the Russian language and culture as well as introduced me to one of the most diverse and fun groups of people I have ever met. The faculty was wonderful at presenting the huge amount of material we needed to cover in a way that was manageable, easy to grasp, and fun. Over the course of the summer we went from learning the alphabet to reading Chekhov in Russian. We played Russian games, watched Russian movies, and made Russian food while also creating the grammatical foundation that prepared me for upper level Russian language courses.
  • The Russian Summer Language Institute has been the most rewarding and most challenging experience of my academic career so far.  This program is as intense as it seems, and it even surpassed my expectations.  This is one of the few university language programs that gives you two years' worth of credit and the two years' worth of material in one summer.  Previous experience with the target language is not a necessity and instructors start at the very basics of the language.  The professors and teacher assistants are wonderful.  They are beyond prepared in order for you to make the most out of your time within the classroom.  Suggestions to improve the class setting are always welcome  and the small classroom environment allows for some individual attention to specific needs.  Plus, you spend weeks in the classroom with people that share at least one common interest, and valuable friendships just grow from there.  The program is what you make of it, and what you get out of the program is proportional to what you put in.  It's not the easiest way to spend a summer, but it's worth every minute in the classroom. 

 

For additional information please visit the Slavic Web site.