I became fascinated with the Russian language about 15 years ago, as a senior in high school. After studying the language independently for a year, I had reached a level sufficient to skip two semesters of introductory courses at the University of Texas at Austin and place directly into intermediate Russian. Following my freshman year, I studied abroad for 5 weeks at the International University in Moscow, and throughout the rest of my college career I was recognized with awards such as the...
I became fascinated with the Russian language about 15 years ago, as a senior in high school. After studying the language independently for a year, I had reached a level sufficient to skip two semesters of introductory courses at the University of Texas at Austin and place directly into intermediate Russian. Following my freshman year, I studied abroad for 5 weeks at the International University in Moscow, and throughout the rest of my college career I was recognized with awards such as the Critical Language Scholarship for Russian and ACTR's Post Secondary Russian Scholar Laureate Award.
Since college, I've studied, worked, and traveled extensively throughout Russia, Ukraine, and Estonia and speak the language at the C1/TORFL level. I have experience working with ESL speakers to help them improve their language skills; in Russia, I conducted private English lessons with high-school aged children and adults, and I worked as a tutor in a university writing center, where I helped university students and academics improve their written English and translate documents from Russian. When working with learners, I like to employ a mix of practical grammar as well as multimedia (movies, videos, music, podcasts, art) to make lessons more engaging. I believe that languages are living, breathing, growing organisms, and learners should be exposed to Russian as it's really spoken, not just as it's written in dusty grammar textbooks.
Apart from my language skills, I have a deep understanding of Russian language cultures and histories. Besides living in Moscow and Vladimir, Russia, I have a master's degree from the University of Tartu in Russian area studies. I also spent 9 months in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where I was exposed to Ukrainian history and culture. Now, as an independent research consultant for Sastre Consulting, I conduct extensive in-language research on public policy and regulations throughout the Russian speaking world. Hope I can make you love the language as much as I do!
