D: Hi Sara! Please introduce yourself to those who don’t know you.
S: My name is Sara and I’m a junior physics major. I’m a native Russian speaker, which is the main reason why I ended up as a Russian tutor. I was born and raised in Central Asia, so I was brought up in a very bilingual environment – I’ve been speaking Russian and Kazakh since I was a little baby, and if you asked me to choose a “first language” I wouldn’t be able to tell you… I started learning English when I was 6, so I know how to empathise with language-learners. If you feel nervous or embarrassed about mistakes, don’t be! I’ve been there too and I know how hard it is.
D: How and why did you decide to become a tutor?
S: I was appointed as an HA for Russian House last year, and most advanced Russian students are studying abroad in Central Asia or Estonia right now, which is great for them and their learning and growth, but it means that we kind of ran out of students to tutor. I think that’s why Amaan Mohiuddin (Tutor Program Director) reached out to me to be a tutor since I already have experience as an HA, and it was a great idea!
D: Any advice for Russian learners?
I have a couple of pieces of advice: first, seek non-Russian sources (Caucus, Central Asia, Baltic States, Eastern Europe). Unfortunately, the Russian-learning environment can be pretty strict in a toxic way, so broadening your sources can diversify your Russian and show you all of the different ways to speak this language. Secondly, don’t be afraid to speak. It’s obvious, but for Russian it truly is practice that makes perfect. It’s one thing to learn grammar, pronunciation, spelling, but if you never take that out into the real world, it’s hard to utilise it in practice. Finally, when I was learning English, for instance, I found “gradual replacement” to be really practical. You first take small aspects of your life one at a time (eg: phone settings) and you change them into Russian, and then from those casual things you can move onto things like switching out your literature and music for Russian.
D: Спасибо, Sara!
Editor’s note: Sara’s drop-in hours are posted in the Language Lab