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Witness Moscow's historic beauty!

Prerequisites

Two years of college-level Russian (or the equivalent) are required to attend this program.

Student Life

American Councils for International Education's semester Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP) is designed to maximize linguistic and cultural immersion in Russian society. Students have the option of studying in one of three locations for a semester or a year:

• The Moscow International University: Moscow International is the first accredited private university in the post-Soviet Russian federation. It specializes in the teaching of foreign languages, economics, finance, management, ecology and sociology. The American Councils places students in the university's department of Russian as a foreign language.
  
• The Russian State Pedagogical (Gertsen) University in St. Petersburg: Located just behind the Kazan Cathedral in downtown St. Petersburg, the Gertsen University is one of the leading educational institutions in all of Russia. The American Councils places students in the Department of Russian as a Foreign Language.
  
• The CORA Center for Russian Language Study: CORA faculty members are specially trained in the instruction of Russian as a foreign language and many have extensive teaching experience in the U.S. Vladimir is three-hour train ride from Moscow. One of Russia's oldest cities, it is part of the historic "Golden Ring."

Program participants may live in a university dormitory or with a Russian host family. One day a week of the academic program is set-aside for travel to local sights of social, cultural and historical significance. There is also a 7-10 day excursion outside the host city organized about mid-semester.

Courses

The academic program is designed to improve participants' oral, listening, reading and writing proficiency in Russian language and to develop their knowledge of Russian history, politics, culture and society. All programs feature approximately twenty hours per week of in-class instruction; roughly sixteen hours of which are dedicated to Russian-language study. Students are placed according to proficiency level in groups of three-to-five for language classes. All area-studies and literature courses are conducted in Russian. Tutoring and internship opportunities are also available to interested students.