Famous Russians

Natalia is a terrific teacher who has helped me a lot to improve my Russian. I studied Russian many years ago and have used it only passively -- reading and translating, but speaking very little and writing almost not at all. That means that my recollection of grammar and retention of vocabulary leave a lot to be desired. Natalia is very good at figuring out what I am trying to say, even when many of the words I use are wrong! She is patient, but also concentrates very well on steering our discussions in a focused way, so that I do not lose sight of the grammatical point we are working on. It has been very helpful to me to have the discipline of a weekly one-hour class, to force myself to work hard and do the homework.

I had classes of Russian language with Yulia Amlinskaya last year. During that period Yulia has devoted the time to detect the weak points, to help me work on them and thus, to improve my Russian. She is a very patient teacher and organizes each class so the students can get the most out of it. She is also a great person, kind and amusing, which is very important for me since it makes relaxing but productive atmosphere during the classes. Therefore I highly recommend Yulia to anyone who wishes to perfect Russian.

Mikhail Yurievich is one of the best tutors of Russian as a second language that I have met during the time of my studying it.
He is well and honestly prepared for the lessons, bringing own (author’s) materials to every lesson for reading and discussing, grammar exercises, lexical exercises (including the typical cliché phrases from the speaking language and slang) and dialogues for the development of speech. Among the materials there are also practice and visualisation of the correct pronunciation, which is absent in the typical textbooks of Russian as a second language, although it is especially important for the foreigners.
With this combination of the different didactic methods, Mikhail Yurievich, systematically develops all 4 language competencies in all types of students. He is an experienced tutor, who actively and constructively uses own knowledge of the language problems, connected with the interference of the students’ mother tongue.
Mikhail Yurievich’s lessons are always led in a good mood and in a pleasant atmosphere. With his natural charm and a good sense of humour, he finds common ground and understanding with every student, and also ways to motivate students in discussions of any topic. During the discussion, the student forgets that he is speaking a foreign language; in this way eventually eliminating the language barriers and fear of mistakes. On the other hand, thanks to his wide range of interests he is prepared to lead the lesson on any topic that interests the student; and to answer any questions connected with the history and the culture of Russia.
Work with Mikhail Yurievich is always interesting and helpful!