Farewell to Tom
Tom has worked one month as an intern at Liden & Denz in Saint Petersburg. Let’s find out more about his experience!
Tom, tell us about yourself!
I’m Tom from London, I’m 22 years old, I studied German and Russian at University and I am going to start a MA in Russian in late September. I decided to come back to Saint Petersburg to deepen and maintain my Russian as best as possible.
Did your experience at Liden & Denz help you to improve your Russian skills?
Yes, definitely. I really think that the tuition is good. I liked the teachers, they are really approachable, everyone here is really approachable and, secondly, they are really supportive if you have anything you want to talk about, to do with your studies or anything personal, they are really helpful.
Would you come back?
I would definitely come back. The school is in a really good location, the school facilities are nice. It’s a really nice environment in which it’s easy to study.
What would you change about your experience?
What would I change? Nothing that I can think of… Ah! Lessons starting at 9 o’clock!
What are your suggestions for future interns at Liden & Denz?
I would say that it’s important to find something different to write about or try to do it from a different perspective that perhaps hasn’t been done before, because there is a lot of work that has already been written so it’s hard to find something completely new. I would say… have a new взгляд!
What is the most beautiful experience that you have had in Saint Petersburg?
I really enjoyed meeting people at Liden & Denz. I think I’ve been very lucky with the people I have come across here. I’ve met people from different countries who had really interesting stories. After that, my favourite thing has been seeing some Russian friends I made last year and the family with whom I lived. So keeping up my old connections and making new international friends.
If you had to describe this experience with a Russian word, what would you choose?
The first thing that came to my head was “замечательный опыт”, but that’s two words! Then “замечательно”, I like it when Russians say “замечательно!”. It has been a very nice experience. When you spend any prolonged time abroad I think there are ups and downs, but this time it’s been really fascinating to return to the same city where I spent 5 months last year. Things do change, but I think that people change more than the places. Some of my best friends were here last year so I have memories with them and I missed them, but at the same time when I walked around the city it was a very comforting feeling. And as I said I’ve been lucky with the people I’ve met. People that study Russian have something in common or more in common than they would if they studied for example German or French or Italian… There is something about learning Russian and being in Russia – you have to be more “ready to go”, tough, maybe a bit сумасшедший! Saint Petersburg is a beautiful city, in one word it’s been… замечательно!
