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New intern in Riga – Dina from Serbia

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latvia, Riga, russian, Russian language, study abroad, Studying, Summer

30 August 2022

The sun just began setting over the big RIGA sign on a hot Sunday afternoon as my plane landed. As the landscape flew before my eyes, the gates of Riga embraced me, and I smiled because I knew – it already feels like home. And Riga will be my home for the next month, as I am a new intern at Liden & Denz!

The streets dancing on a warm summer evening, the people laughing, the city being as alive as one can be – everything. That is why I am beyond excited to spend September learning Russian and strolling through the streets of Riga.

1. About me

But before sharing my first impressions of Riga, let me introduce myself first. I am a 25-year-old Russian language graduate from a small town in Southern Serbia. One of the first things you need to know about me is that I was never able to settle down for a long period of time – from living in Slovenia, studying in Austria, to spending a month in Riga now. My current home is Vienna, where I will be starting my master’s in General linguistics once I return from Latvia.

2. Why do you study Russian?

The question I am sure all of us heard multiple times over the years of our Russian language journey is the simple question – why? What exactly makes Russian so special? Why did you choose to study Russian? Honestly, when choosing my profession, I struggled to find the right path, so when I finally decided to follow my love for languages, Russian was simply a very logical choice based on the languages I already spoke at the time. With Serbian on one side, and Slovene on the other, reaching for yet another Slavic language really showed me the richness they hide. That is why I started a podcast about Slavic languages in December 2020 – Slavstvuyte! in order to share the world of linguistics with people all around the world. Now, after more than two years, I am ready to embark on a new challenge and write about Russian and Riga for Liden & Denz.

3. Riga impressions

Before coming here two days ago, I absolutely had no knowledge of Riga whatsoever, and I wanted it to be a surprise. So I didn´t check Google Street view, I didn´t research much about the city, the locals, or the life in Riga. I figured – I have a whole month to find it out! That led me to falling head over heels for this city on my first day. The streets dancing on a warm summer evening, the people laughing, the city being as alive as one can be – everything. That is why I am beyond excited to spend September learning Russian and strolling through the streets of Riga.