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Deicide

Do they exist? Can anyone provide some links and/or info on the topic?
cheers all....

rusmeister · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 867 Location: Russia

The Pushkin Institute in Moscow had a solid rep, last I heard. (It specializes in the teaching of Russian) I don't have updated info, tho', and it might be pricey.

Millerlong · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 147 Location: Shanghai, China

I am a student studying at the Pushin Intitute of Russian Language. It costs 250 Euro per month for 24 academic hours per week. Classes are held on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Classes start at 9.30am and end at 2.50pm. The reputation of this institute is that it is the best place to study Russian language, however I have nothing to compare it to. The institute itself has the bare minimum of facilities -- not renovated since the 60s or early 70s. At the beginning of semester there are hundreds of foreign students running around, however towards the end of semester they seem to dissappear - not sure where they go.

The management of the institute is appauling. The first week of classes the teachers didn't even bother to turn up. I went there everyday and waited and waited and waited, then I went to the dean to ask where the teachers were, they shrugged and said come back tomorrow and they should be there. Second week started and no problems. Also, the institute will happily put beginners in your class anytime during the semester, which not only disrupts the class but wastes a whole lot of time. I had to jump up and down about this because it was happening way to often. The class size is meant to be max 8 students per class, however with the new students coming in during the semester class sizes sometimes will become 10-12 students.

I have studied at the insitute for 1 semester and I plan on going back this semester. However, I am going to start the second week of the semester this time, so an extra week of holidaying for me.

Simon Brooks · Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Moscow

I am assistant director of studies for Modern Langauges at International House here in Moscow. Our school Globus, runs courses in Russian. We work very hard to provide the quality that professional teachers would expect.

As a private school we open groups or start one-to-ones according to demand and at this time of year we expect to be opening a number of groups as we have a large number of teachers starting. Feel free to contact us for more information. Speak to Dasha on +7 (495) 7300026, and you can also look at our web site, which gives more information about courses and the school in general.

http://www.bkc.ru/eng/moscow/russian.html

Millerlong · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 147 Location: Shanghai, China

A new semester has started at the Pushkin Intitute of Russian Language and it appears that there are not enough teachers. We have a guaranteed maximum number of 8 students per class. However, we have 17 students including me in the class and have been told that only after another 2 weeks there will enough teachers to split the group up. We have over twice the amount of people in our class so I guess we are entitled to get half price lessons. Actually I haven't paid for the lessons at all yet and I hope to keep it that way -- education should be free (I am following the Soviet plan).

demoiselle · Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 25

I know this is an old thread, but I thought a bit of additional information might be useful. I'm currently studying at Moscow State University's Center for International Education (http://www.cie.ru). I was there for four weeks last semester, and will start the spring term on Jan 16th. My experience has been quite good.

This may have been affected by my placement -- a fairly high level, preparing for the Second Level Certificate. However, there are only 3 students, including me, in my grammar class (2 days per week) and no more than 8 in the combined listening/auditory class, which includes some students at a slightly higher level than my grammar class.

The teachers have been quite good. The administration has been responsive and helpful. The price for part time is only $75 per week, for three days, 10-3 pm. The facilities are fine, not luxurious, but I haven't any complaints.

My Russian has improved tremendously in just the 12 lessons I've had. Well worth the investment.

Just to repeat, my experience is probably influenced by being put into a intermediate-high or advanced-low level (smaller class?) ... and a warning, there are a bunch of schools which claim to be MSU. I am referring only to CIE (http://www.cie.ru).

demoiselle