Programs

Frequently Asked Questions

Back

How much Russian do I need to apply?

Russian Language and Area Studies Program: Applicants should have completed at least two years of university-level Russian by the start of their intended program. Students with only one year of Russian are evaluated on a case-to-case basis and are generally encouraged to apply to a summer language immersion program prior to the American Councils program. Generally speaking, the more formal instruction a student has completed before studying overseas, the more he/she will benefit from the immersion experience.

Business Russian Language and Internship Program: The highly individualized BRLI curriculum can be tailored to serve students ranging from intermediate to near native speakers of Russian; however, less advanced students should consider whether their language proficiency will enable them to engage in substantive internships and benefit from instruction in the style and lexicon of business speech. (Students lacking a strong command of Russian grammar, for example, should consider enrolling in RLASP before applying to the BRLI program.) As a general rule, students should have completed at least two years of university-level Russian and an intensive summer program before applying to the program.

Individualized Russian Language Program for Heritage Speakers: This program is intended to address the specific needs of students who speak Russian at home or with relatives, or who grew up speaking Russian and wish to strengthen their language skills. Applicants must demonstrate an overall intermediate proficiency in their essays, entrance exam and/or interview in order to be admitted to the program.

Contemporary Russia: This is the only American Councils program open to students at all levels of Russian proficiency, including those with no prior language study. All applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Cyrillic alphabet before the program begins.

Back