Russian/East European Studies

[ReallyNiceGuy]

Hello fellow Russophiles,

I have completed one full year of Russian and in the summer I will attend a Middlebury summer intensive. Since the month before the 2011-2012 AY began I have studied Russian for one hour a day every single day without fail. I also speak it literally every chance I get even if that results in a 90 second conversation. I feel that I know quite a bit for a person who has only one year of training.

That said I'm bored with just going over words over and over and looking at grammar exercises. What do you think of watching Russian movies with English subtitles? How much will that help?

I thank you for your advice (as usual) and I wish you all great luck!

RNG

[RMAL]

ReallyNiceGuy- Find some Russian music you enjoy and listen listen listen. Tell what sorts of music genre you like and I'll suggest some artists if you want.

For that matter, why use English subs when watching films? A year of Russian should get you enough to know the gist, and without having to read subs you'll be listening to sentence formations better. Buy some lower-level books, as well. Young adult chapter books, etc. are entertaining and help add to your vocabulary. I've studied Russian independently (thanks to my crappy high school and undergrad with lack of language options!) since 2007 and found these methods the best kick-start when I wasn't overseas/around native speakers.

Edited May 15, 2012 by RMAL

[ReallyNiceGuy]

Music: I would certainly prefer folk, or anything piano-centric, or possibly very fast and loud metal.

Subtitles: well, my vocabulary is very limited, and I've spent the bulk of my time concentrating on finding words I know and the case endings of verbs and so forth. I went with this method because I often hear people mention to me that they learned English primarily by watching TV with subtitles in their native language; but I certainly understand your point regarding turning them off. Trial by Fire I guess!? Thanks!

Edited May 15, 2012 by ReallyNiceGuy

[RMAL]

Okay, here are a few I can think of to get you started. (The forum will only let me post two links.) You can go from there by the "related videos" column.

Traditional Russian/folk songs:

Kalinka, Ochi Chyorniy, Pust' Vsegda Budet' Solntse, and Pesnya Krasnoi Shapochki are also great.

I only know a couple Russian metal bands, most of the good ones I know come from Finland. Here's one Russian:

Re subtitles: I'm confused now. People have told you they learned English by watching TV with English subtitles. Okay, so watch Russian stuff you can find with Russian subtitles? They were trying to learn English from reading English subtitles, right? You already know English

Edited May 15, 2012 by RMAL

[ReallyNiceGuy]

HA! Hilarious. I'm really sorry about that really glaring and stupid mistake.

What I meant to say is that they've learned English by listening to it but with their own language's subtitles.

It doesn't matter. Ultimately, you've offered great advice and I especially like the idea of using music to help.

Thank you very much and I apologize for the ridiculous typo!

[Zahar Berkut]

TV shows and news are also good. You definitely want subtitles-- if not in English, then get them in Russian so you can visualize each word as you hear it. A friend of mine learned a lot of his English by watching TV with English subtitles. You seem like a savvy language learner already, so I probably don't even need to mention that setting a modest goal (never a titanic one!) per episode or film is a good way to go.

[Elipschu!]

Hello fellow Russophiles,

I have completed one full year of Russian and in the summer I will attend a Middlebury summer intensive. Since the month before the 2011-2012 AY began I have studied Russian for one hour a day every single day without fail. I also speak it literally every chance I get even if that results in a 90 second conversation. I feel that I know quite a bit for a person who has only one year of training.

That said I'm bored with just going over words over and over and looking at grammar exercises. What do you think of watching Russian movies with English subtitles? How much will that help?

I thank you for your advice (as usual) and I wish you all great luck!

RNG

You should sign up for Mixxer http://www.language-exchanges.org/ There are so many Russian speakers there dying to do language exchages over Skype I've found it overwhelming. Its really fun! I even got to meet one of the people I speak with when I visited Kiev last year.

[FSOJN]

Anddd I'm out at Columbia. Makes it even easier to say that my final decision is Yale!

Awesome! For a PhD or masters? I'll be starting a European/Russian Studies MA there in the fall.

[annieca]

Which professor would that be, if you don't mind my asking? I don't know if you've visited both campuses, but I'm from NC myself so I can tell you that Indiana's program is much more impressive than UNC-CH's, in my humble opinion. I didn't even care to apply with Chapel Hill- and that'd be in-state!

Don't mind you asking! The professor is Dr. Padraic Kenney.

I'm planning on visiting Indiana in the fall and seeing if I like him as much as I like his interests/ do I like the school?

[RMAL]

Don't mind you asking! The professor is Dr. Padraic Kenney.

I'm planning on visiting Indiana in the fall and seeing if I like him as much as I like his interests/ do I like the school?

Awesome! I met him, he's simply great! He adores Poland, is enthusiastic, and really knowledgable. He and I discussed Croatian politics, pretty good for a guy with a focus on Poland rather than the Balkans! Best wishes to you on your trip out there. I bet you'll love it.

[zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

Well, sadly I am starting to think about re-applying already, definitely not procrastinating as much this time! I think I am in much better shape though, as this time last year I had no idea even what kind of programs to look at. I am revising my list of schools; definitely reapplying to my favorites of IUB, Michigan and Harvard, but unsure where else to apply (subfield: Central Asia). I have been poking around on the websites, but if anyone has any insights on Stanford, Columbia or other schools (I am not interested in Georgetown, Yale, Kansas, or UNC) I would greatly appreciate it! Anyone else applying or reapplying?

On a related note, I am really looking forward to SWSEEL this summer! I will be studying Russian, please feel free to message me if you are going to be there too! I am also hoping to get a glimpse of their program as I was not able to visit earlier during the application cycle. I hope to meet Dr. Kenney, as I had exchanged some e-mails with him and he was incredibly helpful and seemed very kind!

[Elipschu!]

Well, sadly I am starting to think about re-applying already, definitely not procrastinating as much this time! I think I am in much better shape though, as this time last year I had no idea even what kind of programs to look at. I am revising my list of schools; definitely reapplying to my favorites of IUB, Michigan and Harvard, but unsure where else to apply (subfield: Central Asia). I have been poking around on the websites, but if anyone has any insights on Stanford, Columbia or other schools (I am not interested in Georgetown, Yale, Kansas, or UNC) I would greatly appreciate it! Anyone else applying or reapplying?

On a related note, I am really looking forward to SWSEEL this summer! I will be studying Russian, please feel free to message me if you are going to be there too! I am also hoping to get a glimpse of their program as I was not able to visit earlier during the application cycle. I hope to meet Dr. Kenney, as I had exchanged some e-mails with him and he was incredibly helpful and seemed very kind!

You might check out University of Washington's Jackson School's Ellison Center if you are interested in Central Asia and the Caucasus also maybe Wisconsin. See you at SWSEEL!

Edited May 25, 2012 by Elipschu!

[Elipschu!]

...just to add the soon to be director of REECAS at University of Washington, Scott Radnitz, has done a lot of work on Central Asia you might check him out.

[MashaMashaMasha]

Thought I'd come over and introduce myself here. This fall I'm entering the PhD program in Sociology at the University of Washington - studying migration, political sociology, and social movements with a regional focus on Russia and the former Soviet Union. I'm excited to get started, and hoping to add on a regional language in addition to Russian next summer (Georgian, possibly).

Is anyone planning on participating in academic conferences with a REECAS focus this year?

[Zahar Berkut]

Thought I'd come over and introduce myself here. This fall I'm entering the PhD program in Sociology at the University of Washington - studying migration, political sociology, and social movements with a regional focus on Russia and the former Soviet Union. I'm excited to get started, and hoping to add on a regional language in addition to Russian next summer (Georgian, possibly).

Is anyone planning on participating in academic conferences with a REECAS focus this year?

Hi Masha,

I won't be conferencing myself, but I figure your introduction deserves a reply! It's great to see a sociologist working on the region (I've been woefully cut off from that discipline), and I hope you enjoy U Washington!

I'm also curious-- what leads you to Georgian? Of course there are plenty of interesting migration and social movement questions there, but I've met so few people interested in the country, as distinct from the Caucuses in general.

[MashaMashaMasha]

Zahar - I'm hoping it will be the first of multiple languages I can pursue. But yes, you absolutely hit the nail on the head - migration, demography, social movements, political sociology... You name it. I've studied the Russian perspective for so long that I figure it's time to look at others as well.

[cml471]

Hi everyone, I was looking for some guidance in regards to applying for a M.A. in Russian Area Studies. I am considering applying to University of Washington, the Harriman Institute MARS-REERS program at Columbia, and the MA at the Davis Center at Harvard. Can anyone offer any insight on these programs (particularly in regards to how competitive they are)? I would also appreciate any other program suggestions. I am really looking for a well rounded Russian Area Studies program with a strong Russian and Slavic language component.

[annieca]

My favorite university that I keep recommending to people is Indiana-Bloomington and their REEI (Russian and East European Institute) which has an *amazing* Slavic department. It's actually the best I've seen anywhere. They also have a summer institute program called SWSEEL that can give you (and correct me if I'm wrong) two years of language experience in a summer.

I know they definitely offer Russian, Czech, Romanian and Hungarian.

[Enzian]

They also have a summer institute program called SWSEEL that can give you (and correct me if I'm wrong) two years of language experience in a summer.

I know they definitely offer Russian, Czech, Romanian and Hungarian.

I just got back from SWSEEL and would like to clarify this great recommendation. SWSEEL offers a ton of languages though some of them (and some levels of certain languages) depend on enrollment. The teachers for SWSEEL come from all different kinds of backgrounds and, as you can imagine, use quite different methods. SWSEEL's goal is one year of language study over the 8 (or 9, for some Russian and Arabic classes) week summer course though some classes will be able to cover more material than that depending on the actual individuals in the class and their student-teacher dynamics, etc. My class happened to be eight very dedicated students, many with prior experience with related languages, and a fantastic teacher so we did actually make it through about two years of language study but this is definitely not the norm or at least should not be expected. My roommate - studying a very similar language - was lucky to have gotten through one year in his class.

But, yeah, IU is a nice place.

[annieca]

I'm visiting IU and their Center in the middle of September to get a feel for the University, the Center and whether or not some of the professors there are really my "dream/drool-worthy" professors of interest, especially considering funding issues.

The two years thing, I think, came from the secretary at the Center. I can't use my German but she said if I did SWSEEL I probably/might be able to pass the language requirement after the summer. But again, you're right that it depends on the students and professors.

[karent]

Hello! I just wanted to move this topic up for the current application cycle. I'm applying to the MS/MLS dual degree program at IU-Bloomington and will probably apply to the MARCA program at the European University in St Petersburg. My other applications are for Library Science only.

All best,

K

[ReallyNiceGuy]

Does anyone know what's going on with the Indiana SWSEEL summer 2013 application? The application page has said "will be available in December 2012" for weeks.

Thank you!!!

[karent]

The SWSEEL application is up, NiceGuy.

[karent]

I suppose I should update my plans.  I decided to apply to IU for the dual degree, as mentioned before, but instead of MLS programs, I applied to the University of Illinois's Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Center's MA program and the University of Pittsburgh's MA in Russian Literature.  If IU does not accept me, I'll earn the MLS in time.  And, if no school accepts me this time around, then I'll apply to a Library School for Spring 2014.  (But I hope that won't be the case!)

[bg13]

Does anyone have any information on Illinois' REEEC MA? In terms of average decision dates and funding? It seems like that program isn't mentioned as much as some of the others.