Goodbye – my compliments to the school
This post will not be a goodbye to Russia, as I am not leaving Russia yet. In March, Luuk – you should read his articles – and I are taking the train to Vladivostok. This way, we can get a taste of what other parts of Russia are like. I know a few weeks is never enough to wrap your head around what a country as big as Russia is like, but I think it will give a beautiful cross section. Besides that, it will be the perfect closure of my time in Russia. Therefore I will mainly use this last update to thank the school, as I can now definitely close that chapter.
I would like to thank the teachers. I enjoyed the classes very much, and not one day went to school reluctantly. Lyubov and Zlata, the teachers who taught me most of the time I studied here, are very kind people who encourage you to talk and practice, are open for any conversation, not only teach you on language, but also on Russian culture and history and give good advice on what to visit in or around Petersburg. The fact that they themselves also talked about personal experiences, made the ambiance in the classroom friendly and relaxed. To me, this comfort is very important when learning a language – you have to feel that you can speak freely, can tell on your experiences and can make mistakes in telling them. Also, by talking about your daily experiences, you will quickly recognize the vocabulary you lack. If you start regularly describing everyday objects and movements, they will become a part of you active vocabulary, which is very useful. Besides this, it is just fun to hear unusual stories of your teachers and classmates.
In class, we usually started the day with discussing the news. We read an article at home, retold it in class and had a short discussion on the theme. It is a good way to keep up with what is going on in Russia, teaches you topical and useful vocabulary and gives you the opportunity to get to know more on a topic of your own interest. Also, we discussed song texts of famous Russian musicians, renowned Russian poems, interesting fragments of literature, various articles and classic Soviet movies.
I enjoyed it and have learned a lot. I think that is the core of studying a language – enjoying that you are learning to understand it and enjoying the knowledge you already have. The school facilitated in this process in a great way, for which I thank again.
Finally, concerning the internship, I would like to thank Liza. Her active support was useful to me and confirmed that the work I made was being taken seriously. She was always cheerful and open to discussion, what I appreciated a lot.
All the best,
Ramon
