Master Russian in a personalised school built for achieving results

Our Approach

Pragmatic, high-quality, engaging Russian language learning

We are passionate about helping people achieve their goals in Russian language, whatever their level and goals are. We want to help you communicate, read, watch, go out, laugh or curse in Russian as soon as possible.

Our mission is to provide pragmatic, high-quality, engaging, and flexible language learning opportunities that fit into your schedule and help you achieve your goals at your own pace as quickly as possible.

How we do it

Boost language Comfort Level

Having a skill of using a foreign language is more important than the knowledge of the language itself. Correct grammar is overrated while speaking comfort even when coupled with not-always-correct fluency is underrated. Feeling comfortable to engage in conversations, reading or watching beats speaking perfectly but uncomfortably every time. It’s better to communicate with mistakes than not communicate while waiting for the perfect knowledge. Mistakes can be corrected; perfect knowledge doesn’t exist – it’s not worth waiting for

Reduce fear of using the language, while boosting comfort level
Encourage practical use of language from day one via various methods
Russian is the language of the lessons from day one
Recommend resources that allow you to do additional work on your own at your own pace and in the time available to you
Break the psychological barrier via practice

Language is meant for Humans

We don’t believe in technology as the main method for learning a language. Technology provides fantastic support, but human teachers are more efficient.

Expert human teachers operating in a well-designed structure
Various resources including technology to support and enhance the learning
Facilitate real-life language practice where possible - one-on-one or group conversational practice, language exchange and any other means possible
Community: we are building a global learning community of people who are interested in all things Russian

Language is Personal

Learning needs to be personalised & effective because everyone learns differently

Personal attention to all students
Personal learning path – individual programme formed with experienced teachers
Personalised approach – use the tools that work best for you
Select, mix and match topics and lessons as you wish

People need Flexibility

Fully flexible, learn what you need, how you need, where you need, when you need

Custom schedule – plan your lessons for the time that is convenient for you
Self-paced online learning – learn from anywhere in the world and with no travel time
Select, mix and match topics and lessons as you wish
Can take weekly or longer commitment or one off lessons

People need Support

so we provide personalised support.

Our teachers and support team are always available to assist you, whether you need extra help with a topic or guidance on your learning path

Why we stand out

Expert Instructors

Our instructors are highly qualified, native-speaking professionals with extensive experience in teaching Russian as a foreign language. They are committed to achieving personal goals of our students and delivering engaging lessons that are interactive, personalized, and aligned with modern teaching methods. Plus, you will be working with real heavyweights, not a 20 year old student of language studies

Strong Linguistic Base

Our teachers come from distinguished linguistic background. Majority are from St. Petersburg in Russia – which has a strong culture in language studies, several language-focused universities, including St. Petersburg University, a global leader in this area. Most of our teachers have distinguished linguistic background and doctoral degrees, have taught Russian for many years and have researched various areas of it

World-class Origins

The school’s founders are from St. Petersburg, one of the biggest education centres in Russia and a place famous for its culture and sophistication. It’s a city of Dostoyevsky, Brodsky, Nabokov, Malevich, Faberge, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Baryshnikov, Nureyev, the world-famous Hermitage museum, Mariinsky Balley Theatre and many more. Here are some facts about St. Petersburg.

Small School

We are a small school and want to keep it this way. This allows us to give personal attention to all students and focus on their goals rather than become a big educational corporation that needs to meet revenue targets every quarter to please its shareholders.

Our Team

Natalia Budnichenko
Co-Founder

Natalia graduated from the St. Petersburg State University with a language degree. She is one of those all-rounders - apart from language degree she has a degree in economics and in her free time is working on PhD in Russian arts. She speaks 3 languages.

Andrey Kessel
Co-Founder

Andrey speaks 4 languages, has lived for extended periods in 5 countries and has travelled and worked in close to 40 countries. Not being one of the naturally gifted to languages person, he knows the challenges that need to be overcome firsthand. Additionally, having lived in Cambridge, UK for a very long time and with 2 master degrees, Andrey is no stranger in education.

Dobrynya Krinko Head of Methodology

Dobrynya dedicated his life to learning languages and things about languages. He is one of the strongest methodologists in the Russian language in the whole world.

Our Teachers

Our instructors are highly qualified, native-speaking professionals with extensive experience in teaching Russian, distinguished linguistic background and doctoral degrees.

Our Students

We consider our students to be part of the team. Every one of them receives personalised attention and follows their own learning path. Additionally, we encourage students to mingle with each other as part of our firm belief that only practicing makes perfect in language learning.

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You?

If you want to work with us - give us a shout!

Why study Russian? Our Students

Normally, our students fall into one of these groups

Business

People who want to make money with help of Russian language. Let’s be honest, there are a lot of Russian money in the world. We often see people in real estate and hospitality industries among our clients

Children

Russian children living abroad, bilingual children, children from families where one of the parents is of Russian origin. For these students being able to speak Russian part of their cultural heritage and ability to communicate with their grandparents

Russian family links

Non-Russian members of mixed families with a Russian spouse. Usually they want to learn the language of their loved person coupled with pragmatic need to communicate with other family members.

Culture-curious

Those with interest in Russian culture, personal or professional, desire to real famous Russian classical books in Russian and things of that nature

Keep in mind that Russian language is spoken not only in Russia itself, but there is a big community of people speaking it in the countries that were part of the former USSR and Soviet block. So you will find that Russian was Lingua Franca in countries as varied as the Baltic countries (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania), Belorussia, Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan and many more

And since it’s a language quite different from English or Latin languages, it definitely gives your brain a boost. Look at this TED talk about how languages impact your brain.

Contact Us

Learn Russian with us!