Russian Language Academy BORN

I was in a language course for teachers in July for one week. Teacher and classes were very beneficial and good. Schools location was excellent - in the city center near the Old town. We had one extra activity during the week - an Old city tour. Our quide was excellent. I stayed in a russian-speking family during my staying in Riga. I liked i t a lot and it really helped me to improve my language skills. I really recommend language course for teachers!

The school is in a great environment to learn Russian in as the classes are organised in a way that you are with people of a similar ability to you and it is very easy to move classes to fit your level. The teachers are also extremely patient when you are struggling and the classes are always challenging without being overwhelming. Overall, I felt my confidence speaking Russian and my understanding of the topic we covered (verbs of motion) improved during my two weeks at the school.

After finishing my second year of online Russian evening classes with a local university I decided to try a week course with the 10 extra group sessions at the Russian language Academy Durbe in Riga and booked a hotel for my time there. Prior to arriving I had a phone call to test my Russian skills and was provided with information about the school, how to locate it, what time to arrive and their policies. Once I had arrived in Latvia the language school was located in an easily accessible place with a couple of minutes walk to a nearby mall, train station and other public transport. The school is easy to find following the guidance on the documentation on the documents sent prior to my arrival.

The staff were welcoming and I was given an introduction to the school and informed there is a once a week free excursion to be given a 2 hour tour of the city in Russian, which was actually moved until later in the day so more people could attend, which I was grateful for as I had classes all day. The lessons themselves were well structured and I was provided with a textbook to follow along with during class which has the tasks for home work given at the end of each days lessons. Instruction by the teacher was given initially in Russian at A2 level and further explanations were in many cases provided with gesticulation/ body movement (for verbs of motion), then pictorial answers. If an understanding could not be gained then a brief English explanation was given. The task given involved games, verbal answers, and brief written exercises. Upon Joining the class I found the Russian only approach very challenging, but within 3 days I was settling in and my listening comprehension increased very rapidly due to the easily understood explanations and engaging lessons.

I found the school to be really accommodating as I initially struggled as it was the first time primarily being taught in Russian and I found the pace quick including the group lesson, however, the school tailored my additional lessons quickly arranging one to one lessons to support me and these helped me keep up in class and by the end of the week I felt so much more comfortable in the language and wished I had booked more time there!

The school also advertised additional excursions you could attend throughout the week at a cost and also advertised local events such as the church tour and the beer festival which was a really good opportunity to socialise with people I had met on the course and try local produce.

Overall I would highly recommend this school to anyone learning Russian, the staff are welcoming, accommodating and have a wealth of information on activities to do locally in your free time, I will be back for a longer time to study in the future.

Everything at Durbe School went according to plan. The staff and teachers are excellent people and professionals. After the course, I have improved my speaking skills in the Russian language.

To start with the location of the school, it couldn´t be better, it was close to almost all the important places including the railway and bus stations, right in the centre of the town. It was convenient during the lunch break, too.
As for the school, I found the school stuff very kind and helping, always in a good mood and ready to solve all your problems.
My teacher was highly professional - one of the best I have ever had in my life.
Facilities were quite satisfying, there was everything that we needed. I personally prefered individual activities with some other students and it was good.
As for the housing I was very pleased to stay in such a beautiful house with a very nice lady of my age, It was a good oportunity
to talk to her in Russian, she helped me a lot to improve the language.

At first I could only understand a few Russian words, as I had learned it by myself. I had never heard Russian spoken at a normal speed. I really thought I could never adapt to the level, but I persevered and after the second day, I was able to understand it a lot more even though all the explanations were given in Russian.
Speaking in a foreign language was forbidden in class, which is a good idea because we were obliged to speak in Russian.
Just after one week(18 hours), I was able to understand much better, to answer and to communicate in Russian in basic daily conversations.
It was a very good experience, I should probably had studied more outside after class, I only studied about an hour and a half every day.
The teacher was very professional and very helpful.
I was only there for a week so I started in the middle of the course and it was difficult to adapt because the others students had been there for weeks. Given that the teacher had already covered three quarters of the book, it would have been useful to have had the manual before the beginning of the course.
I really felt I made good progress in just a week and I am really glad I did it.

The classes were small so I got a lot of practice speaking. Any problem that came up with my residence or anything was dealt with immediately by the school's staff. Riga is a safe and easy city to go around.

I really liked my teacher, and it was good we had the same teacher every day, so you didn't have to get to know another teacher each day.
Another positive aspect was the little bit of homework we got each day, because this way the things we learned in the morning were able to settle a little more.
The location of the school is perfect, it is right next to the train station, and it only took 2 minutes to get to the old city center.

While I do believe this school can provide appropriate instruction for true Russian language beginners, they have some very skilled instructors that can help those who are familiar with the language perfect their linguistic abilities. The intensive one on one instruction offered in the afternoons is excellent for those quickly looking to pick up a language.