7 High School Summer Programs For Learning Russian Language

If there is a language that is massively popular and more than 260 million people in the world speak the language, then it has to be Russian. Beautiful women, great-tasting vodka, Cyrillic alphabets, and the Red Army Choir are some of the things that one can associate with Russia. Russia is lively and has its soul in the hustling bustling cultures. 

The Russian language indeed lives up to its hype of being one of the most difficult languages for native English speakers to learn. However, speaking from facts, Russian can be easy to learn if you have a solid reason why you want to learn it. 

Irrespective of your reasons to choose to learn Russian, here are the top 7 institutes in the US that offer summer-based Russian Language programs for high school students. Read on to know more. 

Why learn Russian?

Besides educational purposes such as moving to Russia for an internship or for school, here are some rather cool reasons why one may pick up Russian. 

1. You want to challenge yourself because Russian is one of the most difficult languages to learn. 
2. You want to improve your employment prospects and consider applying for jobs in Russian-speaking countries. 
3. You want to befriend Russians who don’t speak much English. 
4. You are fascinated by Russian culture and are keen to know more about it, so you explore learning the language. 
5. You have a knack to learn foreign languages. 
6. You want to be in the minority in your group and want to impress everyone with your language-grasping skills. 
7. You will be able to learn more Slavic languages after you have learned Russian. Again, that adds to your knack for languages. 
8. Or you want to learn Russian because you want to!

Whatever your reason to pick up learning Russian, here is our list of the top 7 institutes that are a great choice to study Russian!

Top institutes that help high schoolers curb their knack to learn Russian!

Here is a list of the top 7 institutes to learn Russian as a summer program. Relevant details such as eligibility, application deadlines, course duration, scholarships, and other details are mentioned. 

1. Middlebury Russian School 

Eligibility: High school students
Program Dates: June 23 – August 18th, 2023.
Fees: Program fee – $14,440
Mode of instruction: On-Campus
Deadline: The applications are accepted in 4 rounds, starting mid-November to May end.
Financial aid – Financial aid and merit-based scholarships are available. 

Middlebury Schools are world-renowned for their effectiveness when it comes to teaching languages. The Middlebury Russian School follows a strict language pledge, wherein students are allowed to speak, read, and write only in Russian. Before you begin the course, you have to appear for a test, which will decide the level and you will be placed with individuals ranking around the same as you. 

The classes are tailored to suit your skill level and your batch consists of students who are as motivated and enthusiastic as you are. Besides, students also get access to other programs revolving around sports and arts for recreational purposes during their tenure to study the Russian Language at Middlebury. 

2. Indiana University Language Workshop

Eligibility: High school students
Program Dates: May 30th to July 28th, 2023.
Fees: Program fee – $3,533
Mode of instruction: On-Campus
Deadline: The application deadline begins in April and closes in May.
Financial aid – Financial aid is available.

With Indiana University’s Immersive Russian Summer Program, students can learn the language in less than 8 weeks’ time. The course focuses on helping students develop language skills as well as relevant cultural skills so that there is exposure to more than just the language!

Known for the personal touch, Indiana University’s Immersive Summer Russian Program offers the Russian language course in six levels. The first level is the basic building block and foundation for the rest of the levels. Students can expect to speak, read, and write Russian to express day-to-day emotions and information. As the levels increase, students can interpret news, videos, podcasts, stories, and literature. 

3. Duke University STARTALK Russian

Eligibility: High school students
Program Dates: May 17th – June 29th, July 3rd to August 13th.
Fees: Program fee – $3,500
Mode of instruction: On-Campus
Deadline: The application deadline begins in February and closes by April end.
Financial aid – Scholarship is available.

Based out of North Carolina, Duke University offers a Russian immersive summer batch for high schoolers. With an economically feasible fee structure, Duke University is the go-to choice for many high school students. 

The curriculum involves interactive lessons on the Russian language with several subject-related activities such as exploring case studies on the arts, history, and politics related to Russia, and more. It also includes field trips. 

4. Americans Councils Russian Language & Culture programs

Eligibility: High school students
Program Dates: June 12th to August 4th.
Fees: Program fee – $8,750
Mode of instruction: On-Campus
Deadline: February 15th
Financial aid – Multiple financial aids are available.

The Americans Councils Russian Language & Culture Program provides a unique opportunity for students to travel to a Russian-speaking country and learn Russian. Students can complete history and culture-based topics in the host country while witnessing the cultures and traditions. 

The program aims to provide hands-on knowledge to the students and decides groups of 3 to 5 students each based on the speaking levels determined by a test conducted before admission into the program. The following are the host locations:

1. Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU) in Almaty, Kazakhstan
2. American Language Center Tbilisi (with faculty from Tbilisi State University) in Tbilisi, Georgia*
3. Yerevan State University in Yerevan, Armenia

5. Concordia Language Villages

Eligibility: High school students
Program Dates: varies as per the group you choose. For details, check here.
Fees: Program fee – $8,750
Mode of instruction: On-Campus
Deadline: varies as per the group you choose
Financial aid – Multiple financial aids are available.

The Concordia Language Villages Summer Russian Program offers a fun-filled and adventurous summer in a camp-like arrangement. It is packed with lots of laughter and learning. This summer program covers Russian language classes, cultural activities, and related field trips for a real-life glimpse. 

The students get to learn from some of the best teachers and counselors who hail from across the globe.  They can also decide if they want a one-on-one session or a group session with other students

6. Bard’s College at Simon’s Rock Russian Language Institute 

Eligibility: High school students
Program Dates: June 12th to August 4th.
Fees: Program fee – $17,500
Mode of instruction: On-Campus
Deadline: February – The applications are on a first come first serve basis, so start applying as early as mid-September.
Financial aid – Multiple financial aids are available, and the dates for the application for financial aid begin in the first week of October.

Bard’s College at Simon’s Rock is well-known among language enthusiasts. Those with a knack to learn the Russian language definitely aspire to get into Bard’s, thanks to its wonderful curriculum that also takes students on excursions as a part of the learning process. 

Located in Massachusetts, Bard’s aims at providing its summer batch of students with an environment fully equipped with holistic development. The competition to get into this summer program is pretty high, given Bard’s popularity. So fill in the applications as soon as possible, to learn Russian and go on that once-in-a-lifetime excursion to sharpen your knowledge. 

7. University of Wisconsin-Madison Russian Flagship Program

Eligibility: High school students
Program Dates: June 19th to August 11th.
Fees: Program fee – $5,000
Mode of instruction: On-Campus
Deadline: November 15th and March 15th depending on the intake.
Financial aid – Multiple financial aids are available.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison provides an excellent flagship program for those keen to learn Russian. The teachers are from well-renowned institutes themselves and contribute to providing a one-of-a-kind learning experience to the students who enroll. 

Also to ensure that students put their learnings into practice, the University of Wisconsin-Madison provides internship opportunities to the students once they have completed the course.  

Wrapping it up!

Russia is a beautiful country and learning Russian paves the way to a number of opportunities. Earning some extra credits for school or college can lead you to a number of summer programs at universities that have world-class facilities and state-of-the-art teaching methodologies. Having said this, we hope that our list of top 7 summer Russian programs for high schoolers has helped you with your purpose.