My Experience with Russian

To begin, I have been interested about Russia and the other former Soviet Bloc States for a long time since I was about seven or eight reading about them in old military writings and National Geographic. So I opened up my own line of research learning as much as possible from the era of Czar Peter the Great, to Czar Nicholas and the Bolshevik revolution. Then I learned of both Lenin and Stalin, even focusing on Stalin’s relationship with The United States and The United Kingdom during World War II.

I have respected Russia and the Soviet Bloc States (such as Ukraine) for a long time. Though, I now have expanded my reasons from than just strength gained from hardship and turmoil to such things as an extremely passionate culture and even stronger history. This occurred when I went into a classroom in college to see my first Ukrainian teacher, Svitlana Kuzmina. She started by telling us of her heritage and experiences while we waited for the rest of the students to show up and for class to begin. After telling us an innumerable amount of stories and going thru two hours of class with her she invited us to learn Russian from her, to which I eagerly agreed.

My friend Daniel was already learning from her and he had told suggested it and I opted to agree, especially since it was by a native speaker with decades of teaching experience. So far we have learned a lot especially in the short time of learning, maybe 20 hours for me. Other than just learning Russian we exchange cultural differences and stories of younger days with each other. Supposedly, we are even to try different foods such as borsch and cabbage rolls soon. I am sure it will come with a dining etiquette and dining terms lesson, but we will almost certainly still enjoy it.

Daniel Henry

Southeast Missouri State University (USA)

Receiving Cross-Cultural Experiences through Teaching Abroad Programs in semo

At SEMO we have a well developed study abroad program with ties to Northern Ireland, Australia, Spain, Germany, Russia and Ukraine. Students wishing to participate gain a deep and profound understanding of culture and people all across the world. Students in the teaching program may also complete their block 3 or block 4 in another country, giving them the experience of teaching in a foreign country.

With the deeper professional understanding of learning and teaching in another country comes the awareness of culture. These vital lessons in culture, history and literacy are invaluable. Not only do students come back with experience and wisdom, these programs also create strong bonds between countries. Students can travel between the countries with no problems and gain understanding and growth from each other.

Studying for a semester in another country is a complete culture shock: not only will the student be thousands of miles away from home, they will also have to branch out and meet and develop new relationships. This is wonderful for the understanding of culture, customs and fashion of another nation. Teachers may even visit other countries and be guest professors for a semester or more. In SEMO, I have a guest professor who has sparked a great interest in me for visiting and learning of other nations. I am learning to speak, write and read the Russian language in my free time and I plan to one day visit and hopefully teach in Russia or Ukraine.

Not only do the study abroad programs develop students professionally, the also create strong ties between the countries themselves.

Shaylin Montgomery

Southeast Missouri State University (USA)