Cool Program of the Week – The Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program

Interested in a career in Diplomacy? Now is a great time to learn Russian language. RLASP has options at 4 different university settings, can be done undergrad or grad, and fully immerses you in Russian language and culture making it this week’s cool program:

American-Councils2-Russia

The Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP) is for undergraduate and graduate students who are committed to improving their Russian language skills.  Designed by experts in linguistics and foreign language acquisition, RLASP has a 40 year proven track record of helping students maximize their Russian language gain.  This is done by providing:

•Expert Russian faculty with decades of experience teaching foreigners Russian
•Small group sizes between 3 – 6 participants  which allows for more individualized attention
•20 hours per week of in-class Russian language instruction
•Opportunities for students to audit Russian classes
•Academic year students with the option to write a substantive research paper in Russian
•Monitoring and evaluation of the program through rigorous pre and post-program testing
•Experienced and dedicated US and local staff who provide academic, personal, and logistical support

Students can select to study at Moscow International University, the Russian State Pedagogical University in St. Petersburg, or the KORA Center for Russian Language in Vladimir.  In the fall of 2014, American Councils also launched a new location at Kazakh National University in Almaty, Kazakhstan for students who wish to study Russian in an immersion environment but are unable to travel to Russia due to funding restrictions or other concerns.
RLASP also provides numerous opportunities for students to engage with Russian culture outside of the classroom.  Key components of the cultural program include:

The academic and cultural components combine to give students all of the tools necessary to make huge gains in both Russian language and understanding of Russian culture.  Upon successful completion of the program students receive university credit from Bryn Mawr College.  In addition to Russian language, students also receive Bryn Mawr credit in either history or political science.

The Friendliest Cities to Study Abroad In

Collected from over 16,000 reviews on Abroad101, we looked at how many local friends our reviewers said they made in their time abroad, and if they intended to stay in touch once they returned home. Based on that, the following are what we deemed the friendliest cities!

#1)  Seoul, South Korea

With 80,000 fans at this country’s K-Pop mega-star’s concert, chances are you’d likely gain a new friend or two…or hundreds. As a former ESL teacher in Korea, I was not surprised when Seoul topped our list of the most friendliest cities to study abroad. Korea is known for both their warm hospitality…and their love of foreigners. This bodes well for the increasing number of students venturing to this dynamic and innovative country looking to befriend the locals for their up-to-date style trends and spicy taste buds, allowing them to truly get to know this Seoul-ful city. Continue reading