Russian Language Course with the Yale Summer Session Second-Year Russian Program

This summer, I studied abroad for two months in Batumi as part of the Yale Summer Session
Second-Year Russian program. The bulk of our trip involved intensive language classes taught by
both American and Georgian professors, followed by a road trip throughout Georgia and ending with
a few days in Tbilisi, the capital. I took two semesters’ worth of Russian language, and a
Russian/Georgian culture class supplemented by the many excursions we took and historical sites
we visited. The coursework was challenging, of course — it was a full semester’s worth of credits
packed into two months while simultaneously navigating a foreign country. Although it was at times
difficult to find time to do everything I wanted, I found the intensity of the program to be rewarding.
Though I went into the summer with a very limited knowledge of Russian, by the end of the program,
I was able to chat about my daily life with my classmates and my host family. Talking to my host
mom during meals was also very helpful for developing these skills.

I stayed at a homestay for the Batumi portion of the program. My host family was very welcoming,
and helped me acclimate to the local culture and find interesting areas of the city to explore. I was
previously completely unfamiliar with Georgian culture, but through the experiences I shared with my
host family, the cultural programmed activities, and my own exploration of cities and cuisine, I was
exposed to a rich cultural portrait of the country.

Because of the small size of the program (11 students total, about 3 per class) we got very close with
each other despite for the most part not knowing each other prior to the program. I also built
relationships with my host family and my friends’ host families. I was able to build connections with
people I likely never would have spoken to otherwise, and this definitely broadened my worldview
and gave me a deeper understanding of other perspectives and cultures.

This program has reaffirmed my interest in continuing to study Russian throughout my time at Yale.
Coming into Yale with no prior experience in Russian, I would have been limited in what I could
achieve by the complexity of the Russian language and the years it would take to achieve
proficiency. Because I was able to jump ahead in the curriculum through this intensive summer
semester, there are more options open to me in terms of advanced coursework and deeper study of
the language and culture.