Summer School for russian learners:

[vsem.livejournal.com]

http://narva.ut.ee/venekeel/suvekool.php?lang=en
I am one of teachers of this school. Narva is a small city in territory of the European Union (the most of population is native russian speakers) and in 0.5 kilometers from russian border. Duration of acquisition - 10 days, price - $300 (for students - on 25% cheaper).
I hope, the information will be useful.

Comments

[loomy.livejournal.com]

It looks like a very interesting program. I have a couple of questions though, that perhaps you might know the answers to?

How available is transportation to the city of Narva? I'd be flying in from the US and from the bit of searching around I've done, I've not found any airports particularly close by.

Also, what level of ability is expected when coming into the program? I currently know only the most basic Russian, unfortunately.

[vsem.livejournal.com]

1. The nearest international airport (and it is single in Estonia) is in Tallin (about 200 km from Narva). But there's no planes from US arrived, if I'm right informed. Buses from Tallinn to Narva depart every hour. There is reasonable way(s) to Narva: US -- Helsinki (or Copenhagen, or London) -- Tallin (by plane) and Tallinn-Narva (by bus/train). Other way is US -- Sankt-Peterburg (by plane)and Sankt-Peterburg -- Narva (by bus/train, about 140 km). This way requires from you russian visa.
2. We expect from participants A2 level of russian language ability (See cited page and this link on it: http://narva.ut.ee/venekeel/assessment_grid_english.doc), so we suppose teach to B1 level. Read this document and compare this with you knowledge of Russian. In practice, you nevertheless need some basic Russian language ability, because all teaching is strongly in Russian. At the same time we hand out dictionnaries and translate some difficult words.

Russian Visa

[ru-entranslator.livejournal.com]

If you go this route (Russia), you'll need to be careful. What type of visa will you get? 2 entries/2 exits for the duration of the language course? Transit visas cover your arrival/departure?

Aeroflot used to have some cheap flights from SFO/NYC..that was into Moscow, don't know if they fly to Peter....

[swiggett.livejournal.com]

Is this program offered on a yearly basis?
Thank you, it looks very interesting!

[vsem.livejournal.com]

Yes, it should be yearly.