The Institute
Our teachers and administrational staff have extensive experience in some of the most successful language schools in Russia. Our methods combine western standards of management and service with a lively international atmosphere and traditional Russian hospitality. Our school is founded on high academic standards, with quality programs and a modern communicative approach to learning.

The Programmes
We provide courses at all levels. We have group courses with a maximum of 8 students per class and individual or two-to-one lessons. Our school is quite flexible in its programmes and coursework, and we are always ready to work out courses specially tailored to suit your particular needs and interests. Whether it is business, history, politics, culture, mass media or whatever, we either already have or can design a course for you. We are an experienced team and have tested accredited programs for all levels with an excellent system of diagnostics and evaluation to accurately place students at a level consistent with their prior studies.

Teachers
Our instructors have taught students from The United Nations, The International Committee of the Red Cross, The BBC, Der Spiegel, Credit Suisse, foreign embassies and consulates in Russia, and universities in Geneva, Paris, London, Zurich, Oxford, and elsewhere. All have given us high marks. Some of our teachers teach both Russian as a foreign language and English, German or French to Russians, which gives them a more profound understanding of people’s difficulties with foreign languages. We always encourage our teachers to learn new languages, because we believe that having this experience as students is a valuable source for further improvement of their professional skills. Teachers use the opportunity to learn a second or third foreign language and to be each other’s students. Teachers’ training sessions take place on a regular basis, so stuff members can tell about their findings, share problems and together look for solutions, discuss and evaluate new teaching materials.

Methodology
Our teaching methodology stresses the importance of communication and combines learning common expressions used in everyday situations with thorough and systematic work on grammar. This is of vital importance for learning a language like Russian, with a developed system of grammatical forms. We work on all aspects of the language: speaking, grammar, reading, writing and listening comprehension. Conversational topics are given with appropriate grammar structures, while the grammar part of the course proceeds gradually from simple “basic concepts” to more complex issues. One of our teachers authored a book on role-play in teaching of Russian as a foreign language published in Russia and Finland. Our coursebook for beginners “Poekhali!” (Let’s Go!), has been adopted by other language institutions in many countries. We are proud to note that this book was written and produced by our school’s founder, Stanislav Chernyshov.

Accommodation
Living with a Russian family is a vital part of your stay. Our families enjoy having students in their homes. You will be regarded as part of the family, having meals together, chatting, watching TV, and going out at the weekends. You will find that the time you spend talking to your host family is one of the best and most enjoyable ways of improving your Russian. Very often, the relationship between student and family develops into a lasting friendship. St. Petersburg is a beautiful city with almost 5 million citizens, so we have no trouble in selecting the very best families for your stay with us. We pay careful attention to choosing a suitable “host family” for you, and making sure that you feel comfortable and relaxed throughout your stay. All our accommodation is inspected regularly, so you can always be sure of a high standard of comfort and a warm, friendly welcome.

Examination Preparation
Our teachers are recognized by TORFL (Test of Russian as a Foreign Language) and can therefore teach preparatory courses and give tests for official State Certificates.