Besides the obvious touristy facts about Irkutsk being a gateway to Baikal and its stunning beauty, this Siberian city has a lot to offer to Russian language learners. Read below why you should learn Russian in Irkutsk and what the city has to offer.
1. Linguistic culture
Irkutsk is a natural preservation of high quality, upscale, educated, literary Russian. During Second World War, Leningrad’s (now St. Petersburg) best linguistic institutes including the Pushkin Institute, State University, and State Pedagogical Institute, were evacuated to Siberia. The faculty and professors never stopped working even in these harsh conditions, running seminars, delivering lectures, publishing books and doing scientific research. Thus, the level of spoken and written Russian among native speakers is significantly higher in Irkutsk, Omsk and Novosibirsk than average in Russia. The studies show that the active vocabulary (used in non-professional situations on a daily basis) of a person in Irkutsk is almost 25% higher than average in Russia as well.
2. Access to highly professional teachers.
Irkutsk is an educational capital of Siberia with numerous universities, institutes and colleges and a total of more than 120.000 students (population 650.000). Some of Moscow and St. Petersburg Universities and even Academy of Sciences have set up their branches/departments here. As a result, the dynamic academic environment attracts the best teachers from around the country, pursuing their careers or doing research.
3. Language teaching traditions and experience.
The Russian teachers in Irkutsk have been teaching Russian to foreigners for ages. Built as a commercial and trade center on a crossroad of Chinese and Russian trade routes, later a site for Russian-American Trade Company headquarters (the company was chartered by Czar Paul I, traded fur and salt till the Alaska Purchase) Irkutsk has always had a expat community with a great demand for learning Russian. Under the Soviet rule, due to its geographical position, Irkutsk attracted thousands of students from China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Korea and the generations of local teachers have created a very effective methodology with an emphasis on phonetics.
4. Dialect-free
Irkutsk is a city with very little influence of dialects, accents, and other languages. The population is highly homogeneous, leaving no chance for confusion when learning Russian. Long story short – it you will practice your Russian on a street in Irkutsk you will hear a pure Russian, not a dialect.
5. Authentic culture
Irkutsk is an authentic Russian city where the bond between the culture, history, mentality, traditions, spiritual heritage and Russian language is absolutely clear. Here like in no other Russian city you realise the mystery of a Russian soul and that mastering Russian is the one and only way to know it.
In conclusion, these are only a few of several motivations why you should think about learning Russian in Irkutsk – such an extraordinary city. For more information about studying Russian at our campus.