Deadline: November 15, 2019
Building on years of successful experiences, the American Home in Vladimir, Russia, will again sponsor two Alternative Spring Break Programs in March 2020 (www.serendipity-russia.com/edex.html).
“…any expectations I could possibly have had were surpassed. …I participated in a culture without being a tourist…and spent [time] outside of my carefully constructed comfort zone. The experience was nothing short of changing my worldview.” (Vanderbilt University student)
The program includes community service, homestays, excursions to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, interaction with Russian university students who are studying English, and Russian language lessons.
I hope that you will be able to share information about the programs with your students, colleagues, and anyone who might be interested in helping others in Vladimir and Murom! Please note that the first application deadline is November 15, 2019. Participants do not have to speak Russian to join the program.
VLADIMIR (Feb. 29 -March 8): Help several community organizations, including the Youth Health and Education Center, Karl Liebnicht Orphanage, Russian Orthodox Church, Handicapped Children’s Association “Light”, Vladimir Regional Veterans’ Home and others, while interacting with Russian university students and experiencing the delight and wonder of provincial Russia.
MUROM (March 7-15): Help university students at the Murom Institute (an affiliate of Vladimir State University) to improve their English language skills; prepare audio and video materials for their English language program. During the Soviet period Murom was a closed city. Today it remains isolated from traditional tourist routes. Foreign language faculty and students are eager for contact with native English speakers.
Links to pictures, participant blogs, and television news reports are below. They may give you a sense of some of the things that students can do, see, and experience while participating in the Alternative Spring Break program.
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Blog: http://theamericanhome.blogspot.com/2012/05/our-first-alternative-spring-break.html
Russian Television Reports:
http://vladtv.ru/society/78658/
http://variant33.ru/ekspressnovosti1/22590_prikosnulis_k_nacional_nym_tradiciyam/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQu_46YZPnw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4Yx0VcoQ7w
http:// https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHSmJKk5QIQIQ
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OTHER AMERICAN HOME PROJECTS: INFORMATION AND DEADLINES
1) Vanderbilt University’s Maymester in Russia – Application Deadline January 29, 2020 (https://as.vanderbilt.edu/german/undergraduate/russian/Maymester-2018.pdf)
The program includes community service, lectures on topics being explored by student-participants (politics, economics, sociology, culture, history, art, etc.), Russian language lessons, interaction with Russian university students, excursions to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and provincial towns, home stays, and opportunities for reflection.
2) Intensive Russian Program – Applications Accepted All Year (www.serendipity-russia.com/studyrussian.html)
Approximate program fee: one-to-one instruction group instruction (2-5+ people, 15-35% discount)
Four weeks $3,651 $2,994 – 2,254
Six weeks $5,009 $4,133 – 3,044
Eight weeks $6,367 $5,272 – 3,834
Longer and shorter programs, from one week to a year, are also possible.
The benefits of the American Home’s long-standing Intensive Russian Program – the main program offers one-to-one instruction to each participant – are provided to group participants:
+ experienced faculty specializing in teaching Russian to non-native speakers;
+ program and schedule customized to the needs of each group of students;
+ study from one week to one year;
+ individual home-stay with a Russian family;
+ “Russian friend-conversation partner” program;
+ on-site administrative support;
+ well-equipped classrooms in a comfortable, home-like, atmosphere;
+ excursions in Vladimir and to Suzdal (a UNESCO World Heritage site) and Bogoliubovo;
+ opportunities to meet and socialize with some of the more than 400 Russians participating in the American Home English Program and others;
+ opportunities to participate in a variety of activities—for example, volunteering at an orphanage
3) American English Program Teaching Positions – Application Deadline March 1, 2020 (www.serendipity-russia.com/teach.html)
Program benefits: small stipend, room and board with a Russian family, three hours per week of one-to-one Russian lessons, teacher training and lesson planning assistance, a pleasant, well-equipped, and organized teaching environment.
Teacher obligations: Plan and teach four (possibly 5) 1½ hour classes that meet twice a week, hold office hours, present a brief “Saturday lecture” on any aspect of American culture, airfare to Moscow, visa fee, obtain TESOL certification.