About a year ago, I enrolled in RUSS 101 and RUSS 102 over the summer in order to catch up with my peers. These courses were fully online, which, while convenient, ultimately held me back. It was far too easy to look up answers for assignments, and I didn’t feel truly immersed in the learning process. There was no real pressure to retain the information or engage deeply with the material.
The following two semesters, I took Russian classes in person. These met three times a week for 50 minutes and helped me begin to build a foundation in the language. I learned basic grammar, vocabulary, and conversational phrases. However, I never felt truly challenged. The pace was manageable, and I could get by with minimal effort.
RLASP has been completely different from anything I’d experienced in my previous Russian classes. From the very beginning, everything was in Russian. The teachers spoke quicker than I had experienced and we covered material that I had never heard of. I sometimes felt discomfort, leaving class confused or frustrated because I didn’t grasp what was being taught, and then coming home to my host family that only spoke Russian. I had no “break” from the language, which was exhausting but, in hindsight, incredibly beneficial.
It turns out that being immersed in Russian all day, every day, was exactly what I needed. While adjustment took time, this constant exposure accelerated all aspects of my Russian. I began understanding more in class, picking up on words I heard in conversations, and even speaking more fluently with my host family. These small successes built my confidence and motivated me to work harder.
Outside of class, I looked for ways to push myself further. I started listening to Russian podcasts daily to develop my listening comprehension. I kept a dedicated notebook where I wrote down words and phrases I didn’t understand, then reviewed them every night. This habit became something I looked forward to because I could actually see my progress. Every time I used a new word correctly or responded fluently in conversation, I felt a sense of accomplishment that inspired me to keep going.
Another unique and valuable aspect of this program was the weekly excursions. Each week, we visited different cultural or historical sites, and all of the tours and discussions were conducted in Russian. These excursions exposed me to vocabulary and topics that we didn’t normally cover in class, such as art, politics, and history. I had to actively listen to keep up with the guide, which gave me more practice thinking in Russian outside of an academic setting.
Over time, the discomfort I felt in the beginning melted away. I became more confident in my ability to speak and understand Russian. Studying abroad in a fully immersive environment changed the way I approach language learning. I’m now more motivated, more focused, and more confident than ever in my Russian abilities. And most importantly, I’ve learned that real growth happens when you're willing to be uncomfortable.
Robert Pearce
Dan E. Davidson Fellowship Recipient
Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP)
Tallinn University (TLU)
Tallinn, Estonia, Summer 2025