Study Abroad in Kharkiv, Ukraine: Language Program

I went on an 8-week program with EESA in Kharkiv, Ukraine. I had a really great experience and would recommend this program to everyone. I had taken a year of Russian at my university prior to that program, but how much I learnt in those 8 weeks was probably worth more than my whole year of Russian classes in the U.S. I loved my professor Tatiana, she was very patient with us and was great at explaining and helping us get further. Getting immersed in the language-speaking environment was such a great benefit. An advice I would give to any future students is to not be afraid and go out there and try to use your Russian.
My special thank goes to the on-site staff from EESA. They were very nice and very attentive to all my needs. They made sure I was adjusting well, introduced me to a lot of new people in the beginning and provided great support overall.
I genuinely recommend this program for improving your Russian, making new friends, getting a different perspective on many things and simply for having an exciting new experience. I already plan on visiting again!
I greatly enjoyed my 8 weeks of the Russian language program with EESA in Kharkiv. I strongly recommend this program to future students. Our professors were amazing and on-site support was very helpful, especially in the beginning.

First, the classes were very efficient. I had Tatiana, she had a lot of experience and was good at helping us understand new topics. Being in the language environment certainly added to the progress that I was able to make.

Second, the on site staff was very nice and helpful. Olga and Dennis went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable and had everything that we needed. We also got introduced to a network of peer students, and I was able to make friends with a lot of them.

Third, I couldn't wish for a better host family. They were very welcoming and helpful.

The last but not least, I loved Kharkiv! It's a great city with lots of activities available, amazing theaters and beautiful and well taken care of parks.

Don't hesitate to go when you have a chance! You will have a great time!

I studied for three months in Kharkiv, Ukraine with the EESA study abroad programme, completing 72 'academic hours' (=48 hours, if I'm not mistaken) over that time period. I chose to study fewer hours a week because I was also enrolled on an online Russian language programme that took up the majority of my time. In a year of Covid, I was grateful for an opportunity to actual travel and live somewhere new, getting plenty of Russian practice. I grew up in Central Asia and spoke Russian a little as a child, but have struggled to find the right level of teaching - that pushes me, while being aware of my mistakes. EESA was excellent when it came to language provision - my teacher, Tatiana, was hard-working, well-prepared, experienced, engaging and fun to be with! We focused on areas that I was interested in (which was mostly reading Economics texts in Russian) and had a good blend of speaking and writing, which taught me a lot. Sometimes the sessions were quite long and I could see that both my teacher and I were tired, but we still had a good time and used the lesson well.

Kharkiv is a great city for students. I cannot recommend it enough! Especially if you are hoping to practice Russian, this city is for you. In Kyiv or other cities in the west, I think you'd struggle to hear more Russian than in Kharkiv. I didn't speak any Ukrainian and I managed to get by just fine, although if I had stayed longer, I would have wanted to try to learn it too!

I lived with two girls, who were my hosts for the time. Their support was invaluable, because if you have never been to Ukraine before, you need someone to explain the transport system or various other factors, to you. I also felt safer living with other girls. Sometimes it was difficult, because it was a cross-cultural experience and we didn't always see eye to eye, but we parted as friends. I do recommend living with someone if you come to Kharkiv, it makes socialising a lot easier too!

At the time that I came, there was only one other student. Because of this, the support I was given was not the best (and maybe also because I was only studying part-time). I felt like I could have done with an induction (although they do do that for other students usually), more events (made difficult because of Covid) and more opportunities to meet people. They do try to support you in some areas, but it was not really enough for me. They have a peer support network, but I was linked to this too late. I think when there are more students and life is more 'normal', they are better at supporting you while you are living in the country.

The program is very rewarding and allows you to significantly improve all aspects of your Russian knowledge as long as you take initiative in finding opportunities to study and improve your skills. While the classroom instruction is very helpful, you will need to seek out additional opportunities to practice what you learn outside of university. The program certainly connects you with local Ukrainian peers to practice with, however a lot of your experience with this program will be with the activities and people that you seek out outside of the classroom.