Study Abroad...?

[ex-bluejuly.livejournal.com]

Где я должен изучить русский язык/культуру? В Санкт-Петербурге или в Москве?

Comments

[nale.livejournal.com]

Разумеется, в Петербурге лучше. ;)

Чем лучше?

[piglet-the-4th.livejournal.com]

Дешевле?

Re: Чем лучше?

[nale.livejournal.com]

Кстати - да. В том числе. :о)

[yers.livejournal.com]

St Petersburg pronunciation is just a Dutch accent that lingered.

[rainbowbubble19.livejournal.com]

No offense to those who may be at this school now/before, but I know my experience (and others who are currently experiencing in a study abroad program) with "Nevsky Institute: Language and Culture" in Saint Petersburg is not a very good one. Most of it was disorganization of the small staff/faculty with classes, excursions, and planning. Difficult especially for students who are learning Russian for the first-time.

I've seen study abroad offerings at the public universities. While there maybe more students, I think you'd receive more help because more students may speak English... I also hear they're more cheap compared to smaller private institutions. (I don't know how much my program was necessarily; the whole semester abroad was covered in my school's tuition.)

Anyway, the point is, make sure you research well into the programs... Try emailing the Russian language faculty in your school or local university and ask about programs they willingly recommend. Or better yet, browse the links that are on the learn_russian info page. Those sites can link you to universities and institutions that offer study abroad programs. Good luck.

I would recommend Peterburg

[hellga.livejournal.com]

Just because I think people in Moscow are not very nice. Besides, the way they speak is aesthetically unpleasant (heavy "a" everywhere). Of course, I am very biased, being from Ekaterinburg myself :)

Re: I would recommend Peterburg

[yers.livejournal.com]

Aesthetically displeasing.
My impression of, specifically, Ekaterinburg Russian is as though the person is panting for breath after escaping an angry wild boar, but I don't jugde.

Re: I would recommend Peterburg

[hellga.livejournal.com]

And I reserve my right to judge and agree to be judged in return :) We are evil this way, in the Urals.

[yers.livejournal.com]

You've asked a highly flame-sparking question. :)
Stereotype has it that St Petersburg is the acme of all things cultured, while Moscow is an enormous, perpetual village fair. As a displaced Muscovite, I can't be objective on this, but honestly if you want to get a genuine touch of Russian culture, the answer would probably be, neither. If you're prepared to travel as far as Novosibirsk, I'd recommend that. For all I know, the city could compete with Moscow and SPb as far as academic standards in universities are concerned, while being more Russian, less cosmopolitan, than the two.

[svl.livejournal.com]

I lived in Novosibirsk for 3 years. That`s just smaller Moscow:)
Russian here is better than in Moscow, that`s right, but do you think someone , except us, Siberians, could survive a winter here? Down to minus 50 celsius degrees, btw:), and do not forget to add some wind, of course (heh, i miss such a weather here..)
Given the choice between Moscow and Spb - Moscow is much better for everyday life, but Spb`s Russian is better for sure.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Though I am born and raised in Moscow, and still live there, I dearly love St.Petersburg and honestly cannot understand the artificial and mostly overhyped (and overestimated) differences that people "see" (or, to be more exact, put) between those two great cities. But the question was about Russian language AND culture. The culture in M. and P. is already a bit too far from what people may mean by saying "Russian" - those two are big European cities with more (St.Pete) or less (Moskva) Soviet influence that steadily fades during the years. If you want something real, genuine, highly DIFFERENT - go Siberia. I would agree with yers: Novosibirsk would be an option. Or Irkutsk. Or Krasnoyarsk. Or Tomsk (a REALLY good university there.)(Kemerovo, Omsk etc. are not the options, IMHO.) If you are prepared to temperatures as low as -40 C (-40 F) in the winter and as high as +35 C (+100 F) in the summer, then go there: you will never forget this experience, and it will completely satisfy your wish to study Russian ways.

[rainbowbubble19.livejournal.com]

Would it be completely necessary to go to Sibera? I have friends who have studied in the small cities along the Golden Ring, outside Moscow. They studied in a small Russian environment with a glipmse of real "culture" that is often left unseen at the big European-metropolitian cities, but it was a relatively short train ride from Moscow, if they got homesick.

One thing I liked about my study in St Petersburg was how cultural it really is... In terms of Russian-ness, yes it has a historical influence of European culture, but it's not completely Western as one might think... I like to think of it as caught in the middle (like concepts of double-headed eagle, and its East-West phenomenon) of not being completely Western, nor completely Russian. Yet, I find its history reflects a Russia us Westerners know... It was the site for the Revolution, Lenin and Trotsky, amazing 20th century Russian poetry (like Akhmatova, Blok, Mayakovskii, etc), the dissident of Communism with bands like Kino and Leningrad... Walking down the street, you can even see the different eras reflected on the architecture, buildings, and monuments!

While St. Petes and Moscow are more Western cities, than traditional Russian culture, I think that they are representatives of Russian culture in their own respect... I like to think of Russia as a multitude of different cultures, peoples, languages, traditions, histories- these two cities represent a unique version of what "Russian culture" is. I'd love to venture off to the Siberian side of Russia, but in my experience, St Petes and Moscow both give an easier transition to this culture than a smaller, obscure city, especially for a new Russian learner. If I had an opportunity to go back, I'd full-heartedly pursue learning in one of your suggested cities.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

>Would it be completely necessary to go to Sibera?

Of course, no.

>a smaller, obscure city,

BTW Novosibirsk belongs to Russia's most populated cities (don't know exactly but it's over a million) and is not obscure in any sense.

>Walking down the street, you can even see the different eras reflected on the architecture, buildings, and monuments!

Well, the same applies very nicely to Moscow, and speaking about different eras, you can have it a bit more in a 856-years-old city than in a 300-years-old one (I mean St.Pete.) :-))

Why I did not mention the core Russian cities around Moscow is the fact that academically they are not that strong. But there is a moderately good university in Tver (less that halfway from Moscow to Piter,) a moderately good university in Voronezh (direction southeast, about 500 miles,) a moderately good university in Nizhny Novgorod... (I would especially recommend this one since I'm just fond of the city, and it's the core of the core Russia - the place where Oka River meets Volga River) and just a 5-hrs train ride from Moscow... Well, there's plenty of options outside Moscow or Piter and still within a relatively reasonable distance from either of them, you're right.

Did you see how heroically I hold down my Muscovite patriotism? ;-))) Of course if I'd leave political correctness alone I'd literally scream MOSCOW :))

[svl.livejournal.com]

Tomsk is not a good choice, this city is simply poor, Krasnoyarsk is not recommended due to it`s ecological problems (do not forget KrAZ), Irkutsk would be fine, but Novosibirsk is the best choice to explore Siberia, if you can survive in it`s climate:)

[svl.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot to add that Novosibirsk isn`t small, it`s about 2mln people here and it is thrid largest city of Russia.

[quem98.livejournal.com]

THe biggest problem for most students is finding a program that has schools set up in those schools... Although I think Midlebury has a program in Irkutsk. Most programs though, only have connections to Moscow or Petersburg.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I personally vote for Novosibirsk if we are speaking Siberia. But do not forget that for the most of our respected counerparts here still think GULAG when they hear the word Siberia, if they happened to know this word at all :)

[quem98.livejournal.com]

Petersburg. No contest.

[earth-blue.livejournal.com]

Неторопливый Петербург.
Шумная яркая Москва.

Мой выбор - Питер.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

I would remind again that the working language of this community is, however, English.
IMHO the choice is not yours, but the questionner's. We offer advices, not make choices instead of those who ask for help:)