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My name is Nikolai and I'm learning Russian.
I am learning Farsi.
My name is Zachariah and I'm learning Arabic.
when I came into this program I could not read a bit of Russian. It's got a completely
different alphabet
Cyrillic alphabet, different grammatical system everything.
Now, you know, three weeks in, four weeks and I can read it, you know,
albeit slowly. It is still a little bit rough, but I can read it.
I can form sentences and I think that's amazing.
I am so surprised how fast and how much I'm learning.
Five days a week 6-7 hours a day, so you are you're always studying it.
It's really surprising the short period of time
how much they learn and how much they can observe and learn how to speak it.
Also, we try to emulate real life situations
as much as possible
what we cover over and nine weeks here
during the regular academic program would cover over two years
so during the nine intensive weeks
they live the language, they speak the language and I think that's out that's
the way to study the foreign language you have to plunge into the atmosphere
you have to live it, you have to experience it.
My favorite activity would have to be the dialogs. So, in class we are given a prompt,
and in with your partner, you just kind of make a little dialog. For example you know, going to the store.
You start out, you know, "excuse me, show me this."
It is just kind of fun you know, getting that kind of
real-world experience that you can actually use when you go abroad. And it is just great.
well in this program I've learned
that not only the fundamentals are beginning Russian
but I have also been introduced
to the country's very rich, and
complex history, it's cultural
heritage and traditions.
I've learned all about food, its
diverse population and so on, many, many things
I'm probably about as fluent in Russian right now as I am in Spanish.
Spanish took three years. Russian only took three weeks.
it's a life saver you can get it done in the summer
and graduate next semester or whenever you're ready
and go with your life, get a job and
you also know a foreign language. How cool is that?
and for me personally it's helping me to advance in my career goals, I'm trying to
be a translator.
This course will help my career as a
future naval officer, because it will provide me with a useful talent
in a strategic language that will help both
my country and the Navy.
I'd love to be stationed anywhere in Russia - really.
somewhere, maybe in Siberia. I know not many people want to go there but I think it would be
pretty interesting to go there - somewhere farther east in Russia.
I love learning about the culture so that when I do get a job as an engineer
I can be a useful tool for companies. I can
be that cultural person who is able to get in and out of different cultures and help the world.
As a member of the United States military,
languages are extraordinary important.
I mean we deployed and we go abroad, we become the face
United States. As such you don't want to go out and
look culturally ignorant. With the language
we can really relate to the people we are going out to try to help.