“I was awarded funds from ASPR to support my enrolment at the Russian Language Program at the Middlebury Language Schools during the summer of 2023. Recognized as one of the best language schools both in the country and globally, the Kathryn Wasserman Davis School of Russian offers an 8-week summer intensive language program for Russian students of all levels. I decided to learn Russian with the aims of enabling my capabilities to read and translate literature on Central Asian archaeology, fostering better communication with collaborators from Russian-speaking regions, and also fulfilling the language requirement of the Department of Anthropology at Harvard. My experience at Middlebury proved to be fruitful in meeting these aims.
Most notably, the language pledge at Middlebury, where students are only allowed to speak in Russian at all times, created an intensive yet immersive environment for language acquisition that I particularly enjoyed. Under the language pledge my Russian language skills improved tremendously during the summer. Gradually I became more comfortable using Russian to converse with students inside and outside of classrooms, at dining halls, at student dormitories, as well as during daily extracurricular activities and societies. It helped me apply what I learned during classes to various contexts one might encounter in everyday life. It is thanks to my experience at Middlebury that I am able to smoothly transition into my current study of second year Russian at Harvard University. Last but not least, I am most grateful to ASPR for funding and supporting my summer studies.”