American Councils Study Abroad

When I signed up for a six months in Almaty, Kazakhstan, I knew it would be an adventure, but no one could have told me how much of an adventure it would be, and how utterly life changing I would find every moment. I made some of my best friends, made tremendous gains with my Russian language abilities, and learned that the world while being dramatically different, can somehow still be a familiar place.
Kazakhstan is a unique and beautiful place in the world. The excursions we took, official and unofficial, took us to Turkestan to see Muslim holy sites on the edge of the Uzbek desert, the planned capital city in Astana, the beautiful mountains and lakes outside Almaty, the Kazakh “Grand Canyon” and a funky little beach town, Aktau. I rode a camel and a motorcycle for the first time, and got lost at least once a week. Each place opened my eyes to how people lived, and helped me understand Kazakh, post-Soviet space, and current Eurasian geopolitics.
The friends and family that I had in Kazakhstan helped make Almaty a home away from home for me. Although their traditions and practices were different, we talked politics, religion, and history, as I do at home. My host sisters and I loved going to the movies and going shopping together. I learned how to be a good “Kazashka” from helping clean the family apartment from top to bottom to preparing Kazakh dishes and serving them for parties.
The food in Kazakhstan is different; Americans are often told the “horror stories” of Kazakh food: they eat horse, sheep heads, and drink fermented horse milk known as kumis. All of that is true, and none of it is as bad as it seems; I actually enjoyed the kumis I had! My favorite dish was plov (rice and meat cooked a very particular way—a must try). I got very used to drinking tea almost all the time and I miss the very fresh and natural fruits and vegetables that my host family would buy from the bazaar.
Academically, American Councils did an incredible job setting us up and interfacing with KazNU in Almaty. We had wonderful instructors who genuinely cared about our wellbeing as well as our education, and worked to ensure that our time in Kazakhstan would be wonderful and memorable. While their Soviet teaching style that predicated memorization over creation wasn’t always helpful, as we moved more towards advanced essay writing and reading more difficult topics, my Russian significantly improved. Moreover, speaking Russian all the time significantly improved my abilities to hold a conversation on anything from finding the nearest ATM to debating American politics with my host dad.
American Councils offers a very comprehensive and helpful Russian language program, that I would absolutely recommend for anyone looking to study abroad. The staff does an excellent job keeping students safe, as well as interfacing with Kazakh bureaucracy. They are kind, caring, and helpful. The teachers are absolutely the best Russian teachers I’ve ever had, and have made a huge difference in my education. My family and friends sold me on Kazakhstan forever—I can’t wait to find my way back!

This past summer was the best summer of my life. With the RLASP program in Moscow, I spent two wonderful months learning about Russian culture and history while improving my language skills at least ten-fold. In the first two weeks, I learned more than I would in a whole semester back home. The first afternoon in Moscow, I couldn't read a menu. By the end of the summer, I was talking about political history. That's how good the academics and immersion process are with ACTR. My host family played a key role in encouraging me and getting me to practice my Russian, as well as exposing me to life in an everyday Russian household - pretty different from the States! But my summer wasn't all studies and hard work - we had cultural excursions every Friday that took us all around Moscow, plus a week-long Regional Field Studies trip to Karelia in Northern Russia. There was plenty of time to get to know Moscow on my own (and with friends), too! Classes ended at three, giving us all afternoon and evening to explore (in the summer, when it doesn't get dark 'til 11, that's a lot of time). There is always something going on in Moscow - concerts, shows, festivals (the Ice Cream Festival in July was much appreciated, especially since there's no air conditioning). All in all, the program gave me a chance to explore a new culture and country while teaching me so much about the Russian language and Russian history. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

I achieved greater gains in speaking Russian than I could have hoped for in less than four months. The language classes were very small (usually 3-4 students per class) and so the wonderful teachers were able to give individual attention to each student in the program. I had a wonderful experience with my host, and I loved hanging out with my peer tutor-- both of whom helped to improve my conversational skills, and were always happy to suggest a new restaurant to try, or place to see in the city. I absolutely fell in love with St. Petersburg, I hope that I will be able to return (and travel elsewhere in Russia) soon!

I am so thankful and lucky to have found my study abroad program through American Councils Eurasian Regional Language Program (ERLP) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Having developed an interest (edit: passion) for Russian and Central Asia and all things former-Soviet, I knew I had to take my studies of the region's languages and culture one step further and actually go study abroad in Central Asia. Since I had the most exposure to the Kazakh culture and language (I took a quarter of Kazakh at Stanford) I decided to apply to the ERLP after hearing about it from a friend who had embarked on the same program. It was a magical experience from the beginning: the pre-departure orientation in Washington, DC, was helpful and inspiring. Once I was in Almaty, however, I realized how much support American Councils gave me during the 8 weeks there. I met my host family the night I arrived in Almaty, and they were wonderful! My apartment was a short walk away from the Metro, which was a straight ride to the university, KIMEP, where I took my Kazakh language classes. Every week, I met with my peer tutor, an Almaty resident, also a student around my age, who spoke with me in Kazakh and Russian, took me to interesting places in the city, and answered any questions I had about the city, living in Kazakhstan, and about the culture there. During the program, we had a few excusions, such as one to Charyn Canyon (the Grand Canyon of Kazakhstan), to the Big Almaty Lake, a weekend excursion to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (read: AMAZING EXPERIENCE!), and another weekend trip to Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, which we took by train (it's a 12-hour train ride each way through the steppes of Kazakhstan, also an amazing experience that I highly recommend). During the week, I met with my Kazakh language professor each day for several hours of classes, and we even had lunch together everyday, which I recommend, as your language teacher (in whichever country you study abroad in) is a fantastic partner in helping you to know the country, culture, and language better. My professor was very kind and always wanted to know how I was doing, what I thought of the city, living there, and even was like a second mom, making sure I was drinking hot tea, eating enough, and sleeping enough! Overall, the experience of studying abroad through American Councils ERLP was fantastic and I would recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone interested in studying abroad in Central Asia and expanding their knowledge and experience of the language, culture, and history of this breathtaking region of the world!

American Councils did an excellent job in compiling all of the logistics of the program. I was very well taken care of while in Azerbaijan. But, at the same time, they continually challenged me to leave my comfort zone in order to experience more of what the culture and city had to offer.

American Councils found internship placements that matched my current and future interests, providing me with the opportunity to increase my own skill set, as well as create an international network of contacts.

In addition to the internship placements that American Councils set up for me through OPIT, I was also able to take Azerbaijani language classes, which not many people have the opportunity to do.

I would highly recommend this program.