Astara Bastille
Здравствуйте! My name is Astara Bastille (мое русское имя Екатерина Ивановна). I live in Providence, Rhode Island and I am a rising second year at Wellesley College. I studied Russian for one year before being accepted into the STARTALK Program, and Russian 101 was the first college course I ever took. From the moment my professor walked in with a friendly “здравствуйте!” to the moment he set us free with “до свидания”, I was enraptured by the language. There are many reasons I wanted to learn Russian: I dance ballet and have long since been enamored by the beautiful dancers of the Bolshoi, Mariinsky, and Kirov ballet; I love Russian poetry and want to be able to read Pushkin and Akhmatova in their native language; in terms of world politics, knowing Russian is incredibly important; и многим другим. In addition to Russian, I study French, Spanish, Italian, and Hebrew, and hope to add more languages to my repertoire. I do not know what I will do as a career, but I want to be able to travel and continue studying languages and history. Working as a translator and interpreter interests me, and I am grateful to the StarTalk program for helping me to further my Russian language skills and provide me with the confidence to pursue my career aspirations. I loved my experience with StarTalk and am so thankful for the dedication of my professors, Tatyana Yurevna and Bella, and to Dina Aleksandrovna Mokhnatkin for hosting this program! Я желаю вам удачи и успехов!
Lyla Boyajian
I was raised in Chichester, New Hampshire and graduated from Reed College in 2019 with a major in Spanish Literature. While at Reed, I also began to study Russian, and I continued my studies at the University of New Hampshire after moving back home. This year, I will participate in the Fulbright Student Program as an English Teaching Assistant in Armenia, where I will have many opportunities to use Russian. After that, I plan to attend law school.
I came to Russian and through my passion for literature. As a little girl, I loved reading anything I could get my hands on - whether that was Russian literature in translation from my grandfather’s library or the list of ingredients translated into different languages on the back of a shampoo bottle. I always believed that there was something magical about the written word and about stories. As an undergraduate student, I finally put my finger on what that special thing was: the ability to reveal the truth and help others understand it despite all the time, space, and cultural difference between them. I am deeply interested in the ways people communicate, document truths, and resolve conflict between individuals, groups, and even nations.
I hope to combine my interests in world language and literature with my passion for public service by practicing law. My ultimate goal is to contribute to a more just and peaceful world, whether through work in a private firm or for the government. The tools of analysis, communication, and intercultural understanding that I gain from my study of languages and literature will help me be a better legal advocate. Since I am interested in international law and human rights, my dream would be to clerk in an international court after graduating from law school.
Sophia Chan
Здравствуйте! My name is Sophia Chan, and I will be attending Westmont College this fall as a freshman. I first chose to study Russian as my foreign language in high school because I thought it would be different and cool. I did not know much about present day Russia at the time, except that I loved Russian classical composers like Tchaikovsky, Borodin, and Rachmaninoff. I now know Russian to be a beautiful language and have a better understanding of Russian culture and people as warm and generous. I hope to use my language skills to connect with people who speak Russian and continue to break through the mysterious reputation Russia has in the U.S.
While currently I am unsure what career I would like to pursue, I am interested in international business and plan to study Economics and Business, as well as explore my interests in history, political science, and anthropology. Regardless of what I pursue, I know I will continue to cherish my ability to speak Russian and that it will be useful in the future, whether for work, studying abroad, or travel. I have thoroughly enjoyed CSUN’s STARTALK program and learned so much about the Russian language, culture, and people in the best way possible - immersion. My instructors were knowledgeable, friendly, and always willing to help, and the guest speakers were all so inspiring. I am grateful to have had this opportunity and have no regrets whatsoever.
Samantha Doyle-Jacobson
Здравствуйте! My name is Samantha Doyle-Jacobson, and I am a student at UC Berkeley. I first became involved in Russian studies when I was taking Japanese language classes at my local Japanese cultural center and one of my Japanese teachers was a native Russian. Her experiences in Russia (recounted to me in Japanese, of course) got me interested in the Russian culture and language, so I decided to apply to the National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program to study abroad in Russia on scholarship. In the summer of 2019, I had the amazing opportunity to spend six weeks in Kirov, Russia in intensive Russian language classes and stay with a host family there. When I returned to America, I continued my Russian studies at Pasadena City College with Professor Dina Mokhnatkin and heard about the CSUN STARTALK program through her.
I hope to continue my Russian studies all the way to fluency and spend time in Russia again as soon as I can. Being a part of this STARTALK program was an incredibly valuable experience and I recommend it to all Russian learners!
Eno Fox
Здравствуйте! My name is Eno Fox, I am a rising senior at the University of California - Berkeley. I am a philosophy major with plans to pursue a career in political research and analysis. Learning Russian through the STARTALK has proven to be an immensely rewarding experience that I plan on making the most of moving forward in my life and career. I find the opportunities that have been opened to me from engaging in this programming to be completely beyond anything I could have expected. Nothing I can say can come close to expressing the depth of gratitude I feel to the wonderful instructors that have guided me and my fellow students through this program. It has truly been one of the most rewarding educational experiences of my life, all while being completely remote! There is nothing like witnessing the seemingly insurmountable challenges of learning a foreign language, and then being shown that through perseverance, patience, and love for learning the language one studies, one can overcome these hurdles and start talking! More than just talking, this program showed me how valuable cross-cultural conversations are, and how intellectually rewarding it can be to engage with people from different backgrounds and points of view. This program has inspired and motivated me to do everything I can to continue to immerse myself in cultures other than my own, so as to celebrate our differences, recognize our common humanity and similarities, and to work together to create a better world.
To any prospective students considering the program all I can say is, if you’re considering the program, do it. No foreign language education comes close to being continually immersed in a language, and the opportunities that come from participating, and the intellectual and spiritual rewards of becoming better at a foreign language to make this program a truly life-changing experience. Thank you again to my instructors and everyone who has worked to make this program possible.
Kameron Gausling
Здравствуйте все! My name is Kameron Gausling, and I recently finished my undergraduate education in astronomy with a minor in Russian language and literature at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I am about to start a master’s program in astrophysics at San Francisco State University in the Fall with the goal to conduct astronomical research in the future.
I have been interested in foreign languages and linguistics for a very long time, being bilingual with Spanish and always looking for more languages to learn. My fascination with Russian began in high school, where I started on Duolingo. I became hooked when I found myself able to read in Russian, though after trying to study grammar on my own, I felt it would be better to study Russian at University, and I had the goal of becoming fluent by graduation. This was maybe a little too ambitious, but this goal has fueled my motivation to learn Russian on a deep level and to use it as a way of international communication in my career. I also found motivation in my passion for Russian music, particularly Russian folk music, and its influence on popular Russian composers, such as Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and many others. My interest in this topic and these composers has even greatly influenced my own compositional style!
I heard about the StarTalk program for Russian from the Slavic Languages and Literatures department at my university, and I was immediately struck by the almost exclusive focus on speech, listening, and culture. After four years of college Russian with an intensive program at Indiana University Bloomington, these were the areas I felt the least confident. Not only did the StarTalk program help me tons in these areas, but also provided a very fulfilling social environment where I met many great people and felt like a part of a closely-knit community of Russian learners, formed through common cultural interests and a diverse set of backgrounds. This, I think, is one of the strongest aspects of the StarTalk program. I now feel much more confident speaking with my Russian-speaking friends and intertwining Russian in my future career as an astrophysicist! Я благодарю всех преподавателей за весьма замечательный опыт!
Ваш,
Камерон
Galen Graham
Здравствуйте! My name is Galen Graham, and I am a rising senior at the University of New Hampshire, studying Musical Theatre. I spent the last two years of high school in a suburban town outside Boston, where I was lucky to have a few first- and second-generation Russian peers as friends. I developed a keen interest in the language and culture, and my friends were kind enough to introduce me to the basics on our own. When I came to UNH and saw they were offering Russian, I immediately snatched up the opportunity and took three semesters, loving every second of it! Unfortunately, I could not see myself applying the language to my future career as a performance artist, so I stopped studying after that.
That is until I was struck with heavy inspiration one day for a play about the Soviet experience of WW2. In attempting to research the topic, I stumbled upon the Fulbright program and decided I would apply for independent research in Russia for the 2022-23 cycle. StarTalk was my silver bullet to get me back into the language, and ready to take advanced Russian language courses over the next year in preparation. I have loved my experience in the program! I feel comfortable and confident in speaking and comprehension in a way I was not when I was taking classes before. The professors were exceptionally helpful, and I felt supported through the entire process.
My hope is to be accepted for the Fulbright and write a play that will introduce Americans to the Russian cultural experience of WW2. After that, I will return to the US to continue my work as an actor and playwright, with the hope to return to Russia and share more stories and experiences with Americans that will open their eyes to a part of the world we often feel is so closed off. StarTalk has been my first step in bridging cultural divides between people separated by only an ocean.
Большое спасибо!
Sandra Greenberg
Здравствуйте! I am a post-graduate student continuing my life-long education, and a practicing Pediatrician. I love learning languages and working with all kinds of peoples from different cultures and who speak different languages. I have lived overseas, speak Hebrew and Spanish near fluency levels. Russian is my third foreign language that I have formally studied. I am working toward speaking fluently and look forward to using it here in my practice. My long-term goal is to travel extensively in Russia and the surrounding region while tracing my family heritage. Because of StarTalk, a new door possibly has opened for me to use my career skills overseas. This program is a refreshing course offering high quality instruction and conversation, along with mutual high expectations between its students and staff. I am more motivated to continue my studies in the Russian language and cultures.
Jonathan Koele
Привет! My name is Jon Koele, and I am currently finishing my undergraduate education at the University of Iowa studying International Relations, Russian, and German. I was born and raised in Iowa and my interest in foreign cultures and languages started from a young age. My interest in Russian began when I stumbled upon the great Russian literary works of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Eventually I decided to take this interest to university with me and study the Russian language as I had already had experience studying the German language. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning the Russian language, culture, and meeting those involved in the Russian language learning community.
In the future I hope to take my language skills on the road overseas so that I can achieve fluency and polish my cultural understanding of European and Central Asian countries. The STARTALK program has undoubtedly improved my Russian skills and provided me with opportunities to advance and thrive as I enter the professional world. I would like to attend graduate school one day and work for the U.S. government utilizing my language skills and cultural knowledge.
Steven Maldonado
Hi, my name is Steven Maldonado, and I just finished my first year of undergraduate studies in computer science and Russian at Georgetown University. I have studied Russian formally for one year and to get ahead and develop my skills further, I decided to participate in CSUN’s Russian Language and Culture Immersion Program. My interests in languages range from Italian to Russian to Serbian and even to Turkish. I plan on continuing to develop my language skills and utilize them in the workplace or even just on a day-to-day basis.
My short-term goal is to partake in a study abroad program through my university and if not that, then the Critical Language Scholarship, where I will use Russian. Furthermore, I hope to do some traveling in the former Soviet Union republics, and to which, my knowledge of Russian will hopefully open more doors for me. In the long-term, I hope to become a Fullbright scholar, and regarding my career, I plan on using Russian alongside my main focus in computer science to hopefully land a successful career in a government agency, where I have options to dive into foreign relations.
Lastly, I want to thank my professors, Dina Mokhnatkin, Tatiana Igorevna, and Garri Mangasarian for the opportunity and the help throughout the program.
Abby Perry
Привет! My name is Abby Perry and I graduated from Vanderbilt University with degrees in Molecular Biology and Russian in spring 2020. I received a Fulbright grant to teach English in Russia in the city of Chelyabinsk beginning fall 2020, but due to coronavirus I have not yet been able to go. I love languages and study Japanese and Korean!
I began studying Russian during my freshman year at Vanderbilt due to a general language requirement without plans to take further courses, but I ended up really enjoying the language as well as the people I met in my courses and chose to major in Russian. I was able to visit Russia after my freshman year at Vanderbilt, including the cities of Vladimir, Moscow, and St. Petersburg, and I knew then that I had to keep studying Russian. Today, I still love Russian language and culture, and I hope to become a teacher of English abroad or a teacher of foreign languages in America!
After graduating into the pandemic, I have had very few opportunities to practice Russian. I wanted to participate in the STARTALK program to improve my language skills and remind myself why I love studying Russian! The program has been a great help and taught me about many topics that I was previously unable to talk about freely. Although the program was held online for the first time ever, the instruction was excellent, and I learned a lot! After being at home for a year, it was wonderful to meet other students through Zoom who share the same interests and improve our language skills together. It was also very useful to hear from professionals in many different fields who use Russian in their daily lives, because that is also what I would like to do! I would highly recommend the CSUN STARTALK program to anyone studying Russian.
Emma Ruppert
Здравствуйте! I am from Pennsylvania, where I majored in English and minored in History at the University of Pittsburgh. My favorite electives in college were guitar and Russian language. The StarTalk program was recommended to me by a professor from Pitt’s Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. StarTalk has been so helpful for me, and I am happy that I could attend online. In the future I plan to teach English in Russia. I cannot wait for another opportunity to speak this amazing language every day!
Rebecca Riley
Здравствуй! (Hello!) I am Rebecca Riley, a PhD candidate at the University of California, Irvine researching theoretical particle physics. I investigate dark matter and hypothetical particles such as leptoquarks and Q-balls under a grant from the National Science Foundation. I graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2016 with bachelor’s degrees in computer engineering and mathematics.
I did not start learning Russian until after I graduated college, when I traveled to Russia to attend language school and live in a Russian-only homestay for three months (yes, knowing no Russian beforehand!). I’ll always remember my first night in St. Petersburg – it was early January and cold, but all the lights from the New Year’s celebrations were still up – when my host family took me on a walk around the city. They were pointing out everything they saw and teaching me their names in Russian… автобус (bus), курица (chicken), лекарство (medicine), ботинки (boots). It was so exciting, and I felt like I’d landed in a completely new world. My time in Russia was fun, challenging, and an irreplaceable learning experience. Upon returning to the United States to start grad school, I wanted to continue my Russian studies and have been able to do so through language classes at UC Irvine.
I initially wanted to learn Russian because my dream is to become an astronaut. All NASA astronauts must learn Russian as the first step of their training program. (Many say that this is also the most difficult part of their training.) Russian continues to be a critical element of space operations for American astronauts, who ride to the International Space Station on Soyuz rockets, work with Russian cosmonauts in the station, and communicate regularly with Moscow Ground (the Russian equivalent of Houston).
Although my space dreams are still top of mind, I have grown to love the Russian language in its own right as well. Theoretical linguistics is one of my academic hobbies, and as a scientist I appreciate the precision and structure of Russian grammar. This grammatical richness is an integral part of internationally acclaimed Russian literature and poetry and makes the language conceptually challenging and interesting. But my favorite thing about learning Russian is the escapism it provides: the opportunity to leave behind your American problems for a while and engross your mind in another culture, another way of speaking, and another entirely different way of thinking.
If you are interested in the intersection of the Russian language, space, and/or the sciences, please get in touch. Как сказал Юрий Гагарин, “поехали!” (In the words of Yuri Gagarin, let’s go!)
Katrina Villacisneros
Здравствуйте! My name is Katrina Villacisneros. I received my BA in Global Studies with a concentration in Global Peace and Conflict from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, I am almost finished completing the requirements to receive my AA in Russian from Pasadena City College (PCC), where I also received an AA in French a few years ago. English and Filipino are my native languages, and I am intermediate in French and Spanish. Given my past experiences interning with local, federal, and international organizations, as well as my passion for traveling, immersing in new environments, and learning new cultures, I was inspired to gain intermediate proficiency in all the 6 official United Nations languages. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I challenged myself to learn the last three simultaneously and enrolled in Arabic 1, Chinese 1, and Russian 1 at PCC during Fall 2020 where I received straight A’s.
What initially drew me in learning Russian was its alphabet and its relationship to the world. I perceived Cyrillic as a complete puzzle and being able to read would be an accomplishment. As the class progressed and I understood the foundations of the Russian language, I became more curious about how the linguistic component evolved and adapted to its history and its people. In the future, I hope to be fluent in Russian for professional and personal reasons. Professionally, I want to become a diplomat and use my Russian knowledge for negotiations and the creation of policies. Personally, I want to travel to various Russian-speaking countries and get to know locals while talking about their interests and day-to-day lifestyle.
STARTALK has greatly assisted me to improve my Russian knowledge in a short timeframe by helping me understand its grammar, vocabulary, reading, pronunciation, and cultural context. Спасибо большое!
Angela Wong
Hi! My name is Angela Wong, and I started learning Russian as a “pandemic hobby”. During the pandemic I started playing an online mobile war and strategy game where I met many Russian players which ultimately lead to my interest in learning more about the Russian language and culture. At first when many Russian players joined our group, there was a sense of “us” versus “them”. I heard many criticisms of their aggressive style of play and a general sense of mistrust. After someone broke the ice and asked what did “)))” meant, we started developing more team cohesion and building trust through more communication. This game is the first time that I have worked so closely with so many non-Americans. Now I have worked with my Russian game boss for a year and together we have built one of the best teams in the game, wining key events consistently. Working with my Russian teammates led me to want to learn more about the Russian language (our in-game translation service was terrible!) and culture.
With only one semester of Russian taken at a community college, I still found the StarTalk program to be a valuable experience. I highly encourage any motivated person regardless of age to participate in StarTalk regardless of their perceived (lack of) experience or knowledge. The instructors are incredibly encouraging and supportive and will do their best to meet you at your current level. While most participants are students and recent graduates, there are a few non-traditional students (older adults) – all are present to help each other learn the language and culture.
I hope to continue learning Russian and other languages after StarTalk. I hope to switch careers and am exploring the possibility of working in public service or non-profits. I would like to continue working to build bridges between people from various cultures and to foster a community where differences are recognized as strengths rather than obstacles. In the game, there were certainly clashes in the beginning, but over time, we learned to appreciate the different qualities people brought, often complementary, that helped make the team stronger. Stronger together, victory awaits us!
Claire Young
-Здравствуйте! My name is Claire Young, but I like going by Клара. I am from Ogden, Utah and right now I go to the University of Utah. I am a double major in Russian Studies and Film and Media Arts. Previously I have taken 4 semesters of Russian.
I decided to do STARTALK because I wanted to improve my conversational skills and continue practicing the language while I am not in school. I am learning the Russian language because I love Russian film (especially movies made during the Soviet Union), music, food, and so on. I also enjoy reading Russian literature and I hope one day I will be able to read my favorite works in Russian. I feel that this program helped to enhance my love of the language.
I would like to work as a director or screenwriter and hopefully translate scripts for Russian movies. I am planning on studying abroad in Russia or Georgia within the next couple of years. With the knowledge I have learned from this program I will use it to help my future with the Russian language.
Спасибо to all the teachers and the program for all your hard work and help.
Спасибо,
Клара Янг