Why Learn Russian?
Good reasons for learning Russian include:
- The Russian Language is a means of international communication between nations of the Russian Federation and the CIS (Community of Independent States – former Soviet Republics).
- Russian is one of the six official and working languages of the UN (United Nations).
- Russia’s new openness has lead within the last ten years to consolidation of economical, political and cultural ties of Russia with Europe, USA and Asia. Russia is integrating into the world economy fast.
- Many of the world-known literature masterpieces are created by Russian writers and poets: Griboyedov, Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Yesenin, Akhmatova, etc.
- The Russian language helps to approach the mysterious Russian soul.
Is Russian Difficult to Learn?
Russian belongs to the Eastern-Slavonic group of languages included into the Indo-European linguistic family. Today’s written script exists since 1918, but goes back to the original Cyrillic alphabet. It contains 33 letters, 21 of which transmit consonant sounds, 6 – vowel sounds, and 4 combinations of [j] and a vowel sound. The Cyrillic alphabet was created in the 9th century based on the Greek written language by adding several letters. Russian can be a challenging language to grasp if you have no previous experience of foreign languages, although with practise and good tuition you can pick up the basics fairly quickly.
Popular Places to Study in Russia
- Moscow
- St Petersburg
Russian Courses
Group Russian Courses
Communicative teaching in small groups (maximum 10 participants per group) makes this course a pleasurable and productive experience. Group courses give participants the chance to talk and to play different roles, and to learn communicative skills in “real life” situations. This course of twenty weekly lessons is offered on a continuous basis year round with intake every second week and follows a modular pattern of two-week units.
For participants of four weeks or longer, following modules build upon the grammar basics of the first module, treating the same grammar topics from a different angle with more in-depth explanations, more complex vocabulary, different exercises and more dialogues and role-play in class.
The groups are formed according to an assessment test, which is compulsory for every participant.
Standard Group Courses are available for all the first six levels year-round. Beginners may start on the dates indicated (*) and are advised to be familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet.
Each course starts on a Monday and ends on a Friday. The minimum course length is two weeks. The maximum course length is open.
Intensive Group Russian Course (Language Plus)
Intensive group courses usually comprises 25 lessons per week in groups with maximum ten participants. The morning lessons (20) are taken together with the students, which have booked our Standard Group Course. The afternoon supplement (5 lessons on two days – usually Tuesday and Thursday) will be offered in three different levels:
A1 – Beginne
A1+/A2 – Elementary
B1 – Intermediate
B2 – Upper-intermediate
The content of this afternoon supplement focuses on subjects of general interest like Business and Economy, Russian Mass Media Today; Culture, History and Literature.
One-to-One Russian Courses
The teacher and the student jointly determine the exact content of a Professional One-to-One course. The student is invited to specify his/her fields of interests by completing our need analysis, which allows us to pre-select material, establish a study-plan and prepare a specific vocabulary.
One-to-one courses are available in varying degrees of intensity: 15, 20, 30 or 40 lessons per week. For 30 lessons or more the student is taught by a team of two teachers.
These courses can be booked throughout the year. The minimum course length is one week with each course starting on a Monday and ending on a Friday. On agreement, lessons can also be held on weekends.
Participants may also book additonal 5-lesson-modules as a supplement to any One-to-one or Group Course.
In the Host-family (total immersion)
Total Immersion Courses are One-to-one Courses with 20 weekly lessons run outside the school. The lessons are given by one of our teachers who sees the student where he lives, typically at his host family.
Course types, rates and dates are identical to those of our One-to-one courses taken at the school.
TRKI Preparation Russian Course
Liden & Denz is an official preparation centre for the Test of Russian as a Foreign Language TRKI. The exam measures students’ linguistic ability for university studies in Russian, either in Russia or their home country. The TRKI is recognized by the Russian Federal Ministry of Education and must be taken in one of the appointed regional exam-centres. A TRKI exam can be taken every week of the year. Exam costs are between USD 60 and USD 120 and must be paid directly to the exam centre.
Currently the Russian testing system for speakers of Russian as a Foreign language consists of beginner and elementary levels as well as four levels of competency in Russian as a Foreign Language and corresponding tests. The most common are:
Elementary Level ???(TBU): certifies that the applicant has acquired basic communicative skills in a number of daily situations. With no Russian skills to start with, it takes on average a 16 week group course and one TRKI exam module to pass this exam.
????-1 (TRKI-1): certifies that the applicant has reached Intermediate Level of communicative skills on a variety of social, cultural and professional topics. TRKI-1 allows enrolling in a Russian University. With no Russian skills to start with, it takes on average a 24 week group course and one, maybe two TRKI exam modules to pass this exam.
????-2 (TRKI-2): certifies a relatively high level (upper Intermediate) of communicative competency in all communicative contexts. The certificate involved is required for obtaining Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees on graduation from Russian higher educational institutions. It takes 400 lessons or 20 weeks in a group course to pass from TRKI-1 to TRKI-2. One or two TRKI exam modules are required to pass this exam.
Why prepare TRKI at Liden & Denz?
Comparing with state educational institutions, our groups are small. It is also possible to apply for an individual course, which allows concentrating on the needs of a particular student.
Liden & Denz students consistently show high pass rates.
TRKI preparation courses are planned accordingly to the new official testing standards. Our teaching staff is certified by the Russian Ministry of Education for these exams.
How to proceed?
A TRKI Preparation Course is a combination of a Group Course (Standard or Intensive) or a One-to-one Course and a TRKI Preparation Module. The TRKI Preparation Module is a supplement taken just before the TRKI exam. Each module comprises 5 individual lessons. The number of modules required in order to pass a certain exam is jointly determined by the student and the teacher. We advice students, who wish to pass the exam to book one module in advance. If teacher and student decide that this is not enough, another module can be booked directly in our centres.
Liden & Denz does not offer light ‘holiday’ courses. All our programs are intensive, demand full participation and require a certain dose of self-discipline. However, our serious yet pragmatic approach to language teaching does not hinder us from maintaining an informal atmosphere in and around the school. Teachers, teaching plans and textbooks are all geared towards a comparatively high speed of learning.
In Russia basic medical care is guaranteed by the State free of charge. In principle, this includes visitors who suffer a medical emergency. However, both foreigners and Russians tend to avoid state institutions, if they can afford it. Private clinics are more inviting and generally provide a service that is at least as good as state provision.
For most levels we recommend three to twelve weeks in a general group course or two to eight weeks for one-to-one tuition. For general group courses we use our own text book, developed by the school and regularly tested and improved. The language in the classroom is Russian, however, we encourage the use of bilingual dictionaries and our teachers will use, where needed, supplementary explanations in English, German and French.
The course consisted of 20 lessons of 50 min each and lasted 1 week. The group had special training needs and the course dealt mostly with job-related vocabulary and fluency practice. There were also communicative grammar tasks and role-plays.
Although the initial level of Russian within the group differed, all the members exhibited good communicative abilities in the language which allowed them to improve their fluency skills, particularly those relating to commands, requests, official announcements, making decisions and solving problems. Self – study tasks were also completed effectively. Attendance by all participants was 100%.
Recommendations for further studies would include the revision of cases and more practical grammar as well as further fluency practice. This would mean enlarging vocabulary (adjectives and synonyms, words and patterns for expressing emotions and attitudes etc.) and a better command of verb and syntax.
Phonetics: The main Russian intonation contours were practiced, especially IC-3, IC-3 in requesting, IC-5, paying attention to reduction, correct stress and consonants clusters.
Grammar: The main types of verbs were covered, as well as verbal aspect – formation and use, adverbs, adverbs of time, indefinite adverbs, adverbs of measure and degree, imperatives, conditionals, exhortative sentences, reported speech (indirect questions without interrogative words, advice, order and command, request, requirement etc.) and impersonal sentences.
Topics and vocabulary: Getting acquainted; the Russian way to address people; professional and personal qualities of stewards / stewardesses; special job-related vocabulary; solving problems, making decisions; official announcements; official and informal styles of communication.
Reading comprehension: ‘It Happened in the Air’ – the study-book story, home- reading and follow-up dramatization, special job-related dialogues (reading, analysis, role-play), official instructions and announcements (reading and analysis).
Russian Schools
Students should arrive on a weekend as all courses start on a Monday. If a student is staying with a Russian family, his/her accommodation is paid either from Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday. Extra days are charged additionally. All students are met at the airport/railway terminal and driven straight to their host family/ hotel/apartment. Lessons usually start at 10:00 a.m. (sometimes 09:00 a.m.). Each lesson lasts 50 minutes and is followed by a short break. Free time between or after lessons may be used to work in our small library or on the school’s computers or to have lunch or some snacks in the school cafeteria.
The first day
It is important that students arrive on time on their first day at the school (normally a Monday), so that placement in groups can proceed promptly. Any delay will affect the whole day and interrupt the normal tuition schedule. Everyone, including complete beginners and students who have booked individual tuition, should be present for group placement. The schedule is as follows:
Monday, 8:30 Written placement test
Monday, 9:00 Orientation, get to know staff
Monday, 9:30 Provision group placement and oral test
Monday, 10:00 Courses start
Tuesday, 15:00 City tour for all new students
Teaching materials
Textbooks and copies are included in the course fee. Audio teaching material can be purchased directly at the school.
Certificate
All participants receive a graded certificate (in Russian) issued by the school at the end of their course and stating course type, number of hours and level of Russian.
Cafeteria
Our in-house cafeteria is usually open from 09:00 a.m. till 09:00 p.m. (05:00 pm during summer and on Fridays). It provides our students with hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, salads and hot lunch consisting of three courses (the soup, the main course, tea or coffee with cookies, biscuits etc). Each course can be purchased separately. Prices are moderate.
No smoking
The school is a non-smoking area. However, there is a smoking corner at the staircase.
Communication
In order to maintain contact with family or friends at home, the school provides Internet and e-mail facilities, which are free of charge for all students. Notebook users can connect to our network provided they have a network card. Our classrooms and the library have RJ45 sockets. Faxes may be received free of charge. Our fax number is +7-812-325 1284. Upon arrival all our students are provided (for free) with a prepaid international IP calling card. More IP calling cards are available at the school reception.
Student cards
In order to issue an International Student Card (ISIC), which will give our students cheaper access to some museums, discounts in restaurants, cinemas and free access to some nightclubs, we require a passport-sized photograph. We also issue our own student card, which gives students some additional reductions, in particular in a nearby sport-centre.
Communication
Roubles, € , USD and Credit cards
The course fee covers already many expenses (with the exception of cultural activities). It is not necessary therefore to bring large sums of money. On average our students require between € 100-300 pocket-money weekly for their individual expenses.
Public holidays
The school’s administration and cafeteria are closed on following public holidays: JAN 1, 2, 7; FEB 23; MAR 8; MAY 1, 2, 9; JUN 12; NOV 7; DEC12. However, all lessons will be held as scheduled for those days and no lessons are lost.
Medical Care
In Russia basic medical care is guaranteed by the State free of charge. In principle, this includes visitors who suffer a medical emergency. However, both foreigners and Russians tend to avoid state institutions, if they can afford it. Private clinics are more inviting and generally provide a service that is at least as good as state provision.
Our school has checked out a number of clinics and recommends the nearby International Clinic, Dostoevsky St. 19/21, Tel. 320 38 70. This is a 24-hour outpatients’ clinic with English-speaking personnel on hand for emergencies and modern equipment. Some of the doctors also speak German. The clinic accepts most travel insurance policies, but may occasionally wish to check with your individual insurer. Students with an ISIC card receive a 25% reduction on all services. More information in English and Russian is available in a leaflet produced by the clinic. The school also maintains full information on the clinic’s services and prices.
Accommodation in St. Petersburg
Learn Russian in St. Petersbug Learn Russian in St. Petersbug
Our schools organise accommodation in host families, shared flats, hotels and apartments of all categories. While most students prefer the opportunity to experience Russian family life, Liden & Denz offers competitive hotel rates to suit every budget and various types of apartments mostly located in the city centre./p>
Home-stay and shared-flat accommodation are moderately priced. The rates for St.Petersburg and Moscow are identical. More details are in the table below:
Accommodation type
Price (1 week)
Additional day
Host family, single room, half board (full board on weekends*)
€ 140 – € 170 € 30 – € 35**
€ 140 – € 170 € 30 – € 35**
Apartment or Hotel on requesthandling fee for renting a private apartment is € 200
request hotel pricelist
Arrival transfer (if accommodation is organised independently OR the arrival day is NOT Sunday) € 40 – € 60 per transfer
*)For Total Immersion Courses, full board also on weekdays
**)4 or more additional days = 1 week
Fee includes: accommodation as booked, transfer upon arrival (for course participants and if the arrival day is SUNDAY).
Additional charges: accommodation in host families and shared flats is calculated from Sunday to Sunday and arrival day MUST be Sunday. If a student arrives on Saturday or earlier we charge additional € 30 – € 35 per day.
Friend or partner sharing a room with the student: 1 week: € 140 – € 170, additional day: + >€ 30 – € 35 (no transfer).
Arrival transfer: organised from the airport (Moscow Sheremetevo SVO, Domodedovo DME and St.Petersburg Pulkovo LED) or from any railway station in both cities. Departure transfers are not organised by our schools.
Enrolement Fee: Enrolment fee includes course inscription and Russian visa registration costs € 60 (all Russian visas must be registered within 3 days upon arrival in Russia)
Home-stay (host-family)
How does a typical Russian host family look like? Home-stay does not always mean a traditional married couple with a child/children. Above all we look for someone who is sociable, likes to meet new people and can give a warm welcome to our students. Our host families have time to talk to our students, be patient, understanding, careful and prepared to provide help with any problem that may arise during a student’s stay in Russia.
All course fees quoted include private accommodation with a single room and half-board (breakfast and dinnner). The room is furnished with at least:
- one bed or sofa-bed
- wardrobe
- desk with chair and light
- a mirror (in a wardrobe or a separate one)
The rooms are clean and, by Russian standards, spacious. Bathroom and kitchen are shared with the family. All our apartments have telephone. Maximum travel time to the school is 50 minutes, and average travel time door to door is 40 minutes. Half of our families live in the centre, the other half in modern suburban areas of St.Petersburg.
The school has approved all accommodations offered. Families and their homes are personally known to the staff member responsible at the school. Families are inspected twice a year. The standard of the families is monitored by questionnaires given to students.
Students’ wishes and needs such as non-smoking/smoking, allergies, vegetarian food, etc. are taken into account as far as possible when placing the students. Normally students should remain with one family for the whole duration of the course, even if things are not exactly, as they expected.
We would like to point out, that due to a very different culture and simple problems of communication, misunderstandings are almost sure to occur. This is quite normal. However, the student must try to find the right balance between demanding too much and too little of the host.
Self Catering Flats
Learn Russian in St. Petersbug
Share an apartment with another student! Our shared apartments are usually three-room-flats with two bedrooms and present an inexpensive alternative to hotels or studios. More information on request.
Students who may wish live on their own, may rent an apartment with the help of the school. We cooperate with a couple of reputed real-estate agencies and private landlords who rent out apartments of all kinds. Monthly rents range from € 170 (basic studio in the outskirts) to € 800 (nicely renovated three-room apartment in the centre). The real-estate company will charge a handling fee, which depends on the length of the contract and the kind of apartment. Rents are always paid cash in USD or Roubles. Students opting for this kind of accommodation are asked to stay for the first week either with a host-family or in a hotel to allow plenty of time for choosing the right apartment. Our accommodation officer will actively help with the search. Apartments make sense for students studying at least four weeks.
Fully serviced apartments can be an interesting alternative to hotel accommodation. All apartments are centrally located, have been refurnished to western standards, are fully equipped and provide maximum comfort and security. Services include: maid service 3 days a week, linen change twice a week, personal laundry 3 days a week, satellite TV and VCR, complimentary video service, drinking water, soft drinks, coffee and tea. A one-bedroom apartment will cost around € 110 per night. Current rates and detailed information on request.
Learn Russian in Moscow
The Liden & Denz Language Centre Moscow is located in a central part of the city, a short walk from the Belorussian Railway Station, terminus for trains from Berlin and Warsaw. The school premises feature state of the art technology (including wireless internet), and will soon be equipped with a library and self-access centre.
The premises of our Moscow school are on the ground floor in a building that belongs to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Most of the office space there is used by foreign diplomats and accredited correspondents of the international press. The closest metro station can be reached by foot in less than five minutes. Cafés, restaurants and shops are within easy reach.
Liden & Denz is committed to the principle of equal opportunity and does not allow discrimination against employees or students on the basis of race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability or age. Discriminating behaviour of staff members, teachers, students or host-families have no place in our organisation and will not be tolerated.
Learn Russian in St. Petersburg
The former Tsarist capital of Russia has gone through tremendous changes since its name reverted from Leningrad to St.Petersburg. The city, which was founded in 1703 to be a window to the West, is once again becoming Russia’s gateway to Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In view of the many problems which have arisen since the end of the former communist regime, it comes as no surprise that St.Petersburg today is a city with many different faces. The results, both positive and negative, of the recent developments mark the face of the city as much as the countless palaces and the beautiful river channels which inspired Dostoyevksy while writing his novels.
Modern St.Petersburg is home to 5 million people and thus one of the largest cities in Europe. In Russia it comes second only after Moscow in terms of size and importance. With its access to the Baltic sea ensuring a direct link to Western Europe, St.Petersburg has the ambitious plan of becoming Russia’s premier trade and service center. Despite huge economic difficulties and personal hardships, the people of St.Petersburg are hoping for a better future and are striving towards this goal.
Cultural Programs
To ensure our students have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with this magnificent city, we organize at least two outings a week, such as theater visits (opera/drama/ballet), theme excursions (e.g. on Russian orthodoxy, Catherine the Great), trips to the Hermitage, shopping tours and excursions to the countryside and to other cities, such as Pushkin, Pavlovsk, Novgorod or Moscow. In addition, students have the chance to see the other St.Petersburg. A weekend at a dacha during summer time, so called vetcherinkas, small and pleasant parties with caviar, vodka and Russian folk songs, or the experience of a Russian bath rounded off our extracurricular activities. What is actually scheduled depends on the season. Participants will receive a by-weekly program of the activities organized by the school.
Top Rated Schools in St Petersburg
Liden & Denz Language Centre is a full service language school for Russian as a Foreign Language which specializes in Immersion programs offering a wide range of course options.
The school not only provides excellent teaching methods and facilities but further strives to familiarize our students with Russia, both culturally and emotionally. There is no better place to achieve this than St.Petersburg, an astonishing city of outstanding beauty, struggling and blossoming as it finds it way in the new Russia.
Liden & Denz Language Centre was the first language school in Russia to attract substantial attention from the corporate sector. Among our clients are PWC, Credit Suisse, Scotland Yard, British Airways, the UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to name just a few.
Liden & Denz Language Centre became the first language school in Russia to gain international recognition when it became full member of IALC in 1997.
The pioneering character of the school has received wide media coverage including various press reviews, features on Russian TVand a one hour documentary produced by Swiss National Television.