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| 01.06.2006
Welcome from SRAS!
 As the Russian economy grows, so does Russia's presence in the international political arena. Many of Russia's recent actions have not endeared the country to the US, but the likelihood that the US can or will end political or business relations with the energy giant is almost non-existent. This month's newsletter presents information for students interested in learning more about those relations and other issues concerning study abroad in Russia.
Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies has just published its fourth issue. Click here to view it now!
Students should be thinking now about thier study abroad plans for next school year! Take a look at our political progams page or our progam overview page for ideas on how to make study abroad a valuable part of your education and resume. |
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News: Bigger Rouble, Smaller CIS?
This month's top news story is President Vladimir Putin's Annual Address to the Federal Assembly. It has been given its own special feature below. Other important news stories this month include: The Super-Sized Rouble; Babushkas and Nazis; The War on Corruption; Possible Schism in the Orthodox Church; and Georgia and Ukraine Move West.
Other special features this month are: Cheney and Rice on Russia; "Russia's Right Direction"; and Georgian Perceptions of Russian Perceptions of Georgia. |
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Politics Feature: Putin's Annual Address
President Putin's Annual Address to the Federal Assembly has made considerable waves in the international press. However, in the opinion of SRAS, most of the English-language reports have focused only on the same few lines which could be construed as anti-American rhetoric. These reports have not attempted to place the quotes into context nor have they attempted to consider the speech from the Russian perspective. To provide our readers with a more well-rounded view of a speech which is of importance both to Russian domestic policy and international politics, SRAS has formatted this side-by-side translation of the speech in its entirety and provided some background commentary. |
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Featured Program: Year of Study Abroad Grants
Congratulations to the recipients of SRAS's Year of Study Abroad Grants! Currently, two of the possible three grants have been awarded. The remaining $1000 in the fund will be used to offer an additional Research Grant available for students beginning their programs in the upcoming fall or spring semesters. This has been done to allow a greater number of students to apply. Interested students should read the information available in the link given above and apply before Sept 15th, 2006.
Year of Study Abroad Grant Recipients:
Liam T. Kopel, who holds BAs in Russian and Telecommunication Studies from the University of Georgia was awarded a Language Exploration Grant of $500 to study Russian in Moscow.
Jonathan Brunstedt, who is pursuing a Doctorate in History at the University of Oxford was awarded a Research Grant of $1000 to pursue a project entitled "The Great Patriotic War as Soviet Legitimating Myth, 1945-1975."
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Funding: Teaching English in Russia
Michael Kogan came to Russia to work at the American Home, a small, non-profit English school in Vladimir, Russia. Having completed almost a full year of teaching, he has taken a few minutes to share his thoughts about the challenges and rewards of ESL teaching abroad. While his experience was limited to the smaller city of Vladimir, his observations will hold true for teachers seeking work in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Read his full article here.
For still more an the subject of teaching English abroad, make sure to see this new article which recently appeared in Passport Magazine. |
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Culture: Survival Kyrgyz
In conjunction with Dr. Michael Denner and Mirajidin Arynov of Stetson University and the staff of the American University in Central Asia, SRAS is proud to offer this talking Kyrgyz phrase book. Each entry links to an mp3 file with enunciation at slowed and normal speeds. The phrasebook will grow over the next month into the largest and most useful of its kind online - make sure to check the next newsletter for updates! |
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Featured Program: Internships
Andrea Neulaendtner has performed internships around the globe, including one recently as part of her SRAS program in Moscow. There, Andrea assisted a company that is changing the way international aid is distributed. She hopes to eventually work internationally finding financially viable solutions to environmental problems. To find out more about her plans and her internship, read her full interview here. |
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Featured Web Resource: Foreign Exchange
Foreign Exchange is a weekly series produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting which explores world issues. Last week's episode provides a very conscise and fair consideration of contemporary Russia-related issues. The interviews with political expert Nikolas Gvosdev and business expert William Browder are balanced and informative. The piece dealing with "Russia's Baby Bust" is presented in simple, subtitled Russian and will be valuable to students of the language. However, the segment largely leaves out the fact that maternity wards are often underfunded and undersupplied, and patients are sometimes subjected to unofficial "fees." This episode, and others, are available for on-demand webcast via Windows Media Player or RealPlayer. |
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Image of the Month: Politics Worth a Thousand Words?
Many Russians claim you can tell the Russian government's opinion of business and political figures by simply looking at the way they are pictured in the popular press (which is said to follow the government's wishes). If Hello Magazine (similar to People in the US) can be said to follow this rule, the following page of world leaders can be considered an interesting rhetorical statement. |
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Language: Девушки, Девочки, Девчонки ≠ Girls, Girls, Girls
Russian has several words related to "девушка" which can all mean "girl" with varying connotations. For example, "девочка," a diminutive form, would indicate a very young girl. "Девкa" is another derivative of the word, but a not wholly pleasant one, implying "wench" or even "harlot." In modern slang, the plural forms "девчата" and "девчонки" are used in familiar cases between friends, but we don't recommend trying to use them as they can also be quite offensive.
The word "девушка" also carries the extra meaning of "ma'am" in restaurant and other service settings; it is customary to call waitresses (официантки) by this title. A male server is commonly called "молодой человек." These titles can be applied no matter the true age of the server and with no negative connotation. |
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