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Russian studies [or Slavic]

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ControlDenied

Bluelighter
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Jan 16, 2007
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So I've decided to "do" something with my life and onrolled at Dal a week before classes are starting. What catches my eye is Russian Studies. you learn the language and study the culture. anyone taking part in any of the wide array of Russian and Slavic departments throughout the US ??(and to a tinier extent my home Canada). Ohio State has the biggest Slavics program in the world I know.

What with the Russians' increasingly "influence" seems like an area worthy of intrigue.
 
my university and the mother university of mine both got rid of their slavic studies programs. i was quite sad, but i gather it was from a lack of interest. though, learning russian or serb would've been cool, but rather pointless for my degree.
 
yeh i want to learn serbian

its all so last minute, and the courses are almost full. lets see if i can squeeze myself in!!
 
nah im gettin in
just i hope made the right choice...coulve gotten free tuition in my hometown but it only teaches basic stuff and its a tiny town

will be hard after a year or jet-setting around europe. hopefullt there'll be hot russian chicks involved somewhere or other :)
 
I find this area of study (particularly Balkan politics, the USSR, and Slavic Folklore) fascinating. I would have definitely picked this as a minor had it not been for the head of the department (and the prof for most of its classes!). He was an old bureaucrat who seemed as if he was plucked right out of a story by Gogol.

As for the languages, its a toughy to choose.

I find Serbo-Croat to be the most interesting of all the Slavic languages, while Polish is the ugliest (I've always had an aversion to poland as a whole, I don't know why...).

Russian is not that interesting and somewhat difficult (more difficult than Spanish, less than French) but in terms of communication it covers huge swathes of land and gives access to non-slavic countries with fascinating cultures (Central Asia). Also, russian literature is pretty cool.
 
i speak Polish fluently so it will be easier. its not ugly, you're ugly :)
i agree, serbo-croat would be my first choice but i think only one school in all of north america teaches it (u. of ohio- huge slavic studies program). I will use it to try to get a job in the former USSR. I love Serbia and Serbs. also folklore like u mentioned and the USSR (gulags). just read "Imperium" by Ryszard Kapuscinski. amazing writer.

its an intensive program, you take all courses related to russian language, culture, politics etc., they even teach on russian film, and can send you to st. petersburg for a year
 
^ Haha, sorry didn't mean that as an insult. Its just that some languages sound horrible to my ears, including German, Thai, Mandarin, Swahili, Hebrew, and Polish.

If I were you, I'd definitely take up the chance for an exchange program. Armchair cultural studies tends to be very lacking...
 
yeh they half a 1/2 or 1 year of studying in st. petersburg optional at the end (probably hafta have good grades tho)
 
fack

man am i ever freaking out. i feel like it was a big mistake to go back to uni for the 3rd time! all tyhis work to learn a probably useless language. will this degree even help me?!?!
 
i dunno im a fucking freak. ive wasted so much of my parents money on going to uni and hating it so much and leaving. i cant do it again. but at the same time... i dunno. ill probably go insane and kill myself :( thats where i honestly am at this point
 
true.
well i talked to my mom, and i feel a lot calmer.
i think im too up and down for this world we live in. im too smart not to go to school but too smart to go also. what a world. this is what happens when you took acid at age 15

anyway ill get through this semester somehow and see what happens
im sure there are good things in the air for me...
 
ControlDenied said:
i speak Polish fluently so it will be easier. its not ugly, you're ugly :)
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You're better off building on your Polish roots. Plenty more business opportunities and the fact that Poland is now part of the EU is a big plus.

I will use it to try to get a job in the former USSR.
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A teaching job? You're better off teaching ESL in China or Japan. Business? YOu don't want the headaches that will accompany business ownership in Russia.

its an intensive program, you take all courses related to russian language, culture, politics etc., they even teach on russian film, and can send you to st. petersburg for a year
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If you wish to enjoy the culture, you're better off visiting for a couple of weeks during the summer and another week or two in the winter. If you're looking to earn a living, look for countries which are opening themselves up to the world, not ones which are closing themselves off. Don't misunderstand me, the people are wonderful... but the country, the way it is run, the direction it is being forced in royally sucks. Don't waste your time on Slavic studies for a career. You'd get much further with a hot-dog stand.

Having said the above, if you do end up pursuing Slavic studies, you'll want to pair up with the Philological Faculty of the St Peterburg University for your exchange course. Good luck. You'll need it. Oh, and if you do end up there, don't vocalise your Polish roots too much. Russians have always held a demeaning prejudice towards Poles. Then again, Russia is rife with all sorts of other prejudices these days...
 
^ Good advice.

By the way, Poland is basically the biggest ESL market in Eastern Europe, along with the Czech. You should have no problem finding a teaching job there.
 
yeh i am now tormenting myself with realising how silly my decision was. but you cant really study polish anywhere in n. america. only a few universities and they only reach a few courses in the language itself. in england however there are tons of "polish departments" etc.

im really regretting it. ubt my mom already paid for this semester's tuition. so i will go for now and see how it is. if i drop out here, it will be 3rd time dropping out of uni, and i will probably never go bakc. my parents will certainly never support me again (in anything most likely) and i might look like quite a loser.

fuck this corporate bureacratic world!!

whjy did i even come here?!?! cuz i was fucked on benzos the entire time i applied maybe!

can you tell how horribly conflicted i am?!?1

the worst thing i feel my polish roots almost screaming at me to stop studying the culture of the "enemy" essentially! WHY DID I DO THIS
 
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