Liden & Denz

Judging by the fact you're even reading this the chances are you're one brave cooky! Some might say that going to Russia as a tourist requires a bit of backbone, but trying to master the language - that's surely the preserve of the downright foolhardy! Mind you learning Russian does have its selling points. Try speaking French and if you don't get it perfect the garcon spits in your soup, try speaking German and the bartender answers in English, and try speaking Spanish in Spain and you find that everyone speaks in their own regional dialect - so what was the point of that then? If you try speaking Russian the worse can that happen is you get plied with vodka... And who knows, you might even get lucky!

" In May of this year I studied with a group in Russia through Liden & Denz. We spent two weeks in Moscow and two weeks in St. Petersburg. In general I thought that the program in Moscow was way better. Their school in St Petersburg is their main school so it is a bit over crowded. I also felt that the teachers and staff in Moscow were more flexible when it came to scheduling issues. If you are a just learning to speak Russian than St. Petersburg is probably the best place for you to go. All of the tours that are offered through the school are in English. But if you want a more advanced learning experience than I would recommend going to the school in Moscow. All of the excursions were in Russian. Overall, the lessons plans were adequate to learning Russian. The only issue I had was that the classes were not properly divided according to people's level and a couple of the students slowed the class down. Plus I felt that the class was overcrowded and needed to be divided up better. However, it was a great experience and I enjoyed it!"

Beth
Russia
Aug.31.2006
Overall rating 4/5