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Dr. Kourova’s Research on cultural Ways

On July 21 in the STARTALK Program Director Dr. Alla Kourova and Lead Instructor Irina Pidberejna led a tag team workshop on “How to Deal with Russians”, an informative and engaging presentation on cultural differences. Dr. Kourova has been working on research for many years formulating, analyzing, and collecting different thematic topics that may vary across cultures. So far she has collected 24 cultural ways which can be identified and used as a lens to see the behavior and patterns…

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Guest Speaker Dr. Morris

Today, students got to listen to a very informative presentation by Dr. Berry Morris, who has quite an impressive resume: Current NAFSA board member, Barry J. Morris, PhD, is the former chief global strategist and senior international officer at the University of Central Florida. He also serves as internationalization consultant for Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU). At BJTU, he was the founding vice dean for strategic planning and internationalization at the Hanergy School of Renewable Energy, professor of international relations, and…

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Russian Traditional Clothing

Today our STARTALK students listened to a wonderful presentation by our teaching assistant Sasha Vargas about traditional Russian clothing. The first item of clothing they learned about was traditional women’s dresses. The first type of traditional women’s dress our students learned about was the sarafan. A sarafan is a loosely fitting, long jumper dress worn over a long linen shirt and belted. A necessary component of traditional Russian dress, the belt was often worn under the sarafan. Next, students learned…

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Happy Birthday, Liya Akhedzhakova!

On this day, 83 years ago, famous actress Liya Akhedzhakova was born in Dnipro, Ukraine (USSR). Akhedzhakova starred in many films throughout her career, including the very popular “Office Romance” (Служебный роман). She won an award for this film in 1971 called Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR. She also won other awards, including best supporting actress for the movie “Promised Heaven” (Небеса обетованные). In 1956 she entered the Moscow Institute of Nonferrous Metals and Gold where she studied for eighteen…

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Today: Russian Traditional Painting Styles Workshop

Today our STARTALK Russian Intermediate instructor, Irina Pidberejna, gave a fantastic presentation on traditional Russian painting styles, and led a workshop where students emulated these styles in their own art. Some of the styles included in the presentation are Гжель (Gzhel) and Мезенская Роспись (Mezen Ornament). Мезенская Роспись originated at the end of 19th century in villages around the river Mezen. It is characterized by only red, black, and white colors, while also featuring deer, horses, and geometrical patterns. The…

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It’s Time to Meet The STARTALK Russian Team!

By now you likely know a little bit about the instructor of your group, but it’s time to learn about the rest of the STARTALK Russian team. Keep in mind, every member of this team works hard to create fun and productive learning environments, and each of them loves watching their students learn and grow. We’ll begin with the program director, Dr. Alla Kourova: Dr. Alla Kourova is the program director for STARTALK at UCF. She has held this position…

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First Day of STARTALK 2021

Today began the first day of STARTALK 2021 at UCF. STARTALK is a three-week intensive language and culture program, sponsored by the NSA, where students are taught critical languages. At UCF, students are learning Russian at the high school, beginner, and intermediate levels, as well as Arabic at the beginner and intermediate levels. The University of Central Florida has successfully hosted the Russian program since 2015 and has become well-known in the Orlando community, and Arabic was added to the…

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