Questions and Answers
for Students and Faculty Interested in Going on Russian Exchange

When Should I Arrive? And When do Classes Start and End?

There are five different “courses,” or years of study, at the Komi Ped Institute, and classes begin and end on different dates for these different years.  American faculty can plan their schedules around these dates. Faculty here are very flexible, and are happy to try to arrange any kind of teaching schedule that is best for American faculty.

UMF students starting in the Fall should NOT arrive in St. Petersburg or Moscow BEFORE the 28^th of August. The reason is that everyone in Syktyvkar  will be on vacation still, and the institute will be locked up. School officially starts there on September 1. The other reason to arrive at this time is that the registration process (everyone who comes to Russia needs to register in the town of their intended residence within three days of arrival) necessitates the students arriving in Moscow or St. Petersburg and hurrying to Syktyvkar. Komi faculty suggest that if the students want to sight-see in St. Petersburg and Moscow, that they do this at the end of their stay.

Fall Term: Begins Sept. 1. Russian teachers arrive August 30 or 31. Faculty at Komi suggest strongly that American teachers and students not arrive in Syktyvkar before these dates, as the Institute is closed for the summer and most faculty are away on vacation.

By train, it takes two days to get to Syktyvkar from St. Petersburg, and one day to get to Syktyvkar from Moscow. You may also fly and shorten this time to a couple of hours.

 Because they must be registered in Syktyvkar within three days of their arrival in Russia, Komi faculty suggest American teachers plan to spend no more than a day in Moscow or St. Petersburg, then come directly to Syktyvkar, if they are traveling by train. 

 The Institute will usually send a faculty member to meet the American exchange teachers and students in St. Petersburg or Moscow, and escort them to Syktyvkar.

 Komi students in years 1-4 begin their fall term classes on September 1. Fifth year students do their teaching practicum until the beginning of the third week of October, when their courses begin.

Komi students in years 1-3 finish their fall term classes on December 29. Forth year students finish their classes December 10. Fifth year students finish their classes on January 3.

Spring Term: Begins the Monday of the second week of February. Since there is no long holiday preceding the spring term, and the Institute does not close, American faculty can arrive in Moscow or St. Petersburg the first week of February. They still must travel directly to Syktyvkar, because law requires that they register in Syktyvkar within three days of their arrival in Russia.

Forth year students have their teaching practicum at the beginning of this semester, so they actually begin classes at the Institute the Monday of the third week of February. 

Students in the third year finish their classes the first week of May. Students in years 1, 2, and 4 finish their classes in the first week of June. Students in the 5^th year finish their classes the last week of March.

What Will I  Be Teaching or Learning?

The Komi Ped Institute is a teachers college. The college teaches students in all subjects, including the sciences, who then go on to teach in elementary and secondary schools all over Russia. The department we exchange faculty with is the department of English in the program in foreign languages. Other languages taught at the Institute include French and German. The English department is the largest department in the program in foreign languages. Students in the program learn theoretical and applied linguistics, grammar, lexicology, pedagogy, and also take literature and language courses to improve their analytical, oral, and written skills with English. Unless an American faculty member specializes in linguistics, or the teaching of English as a second language, the courses he or she will be most likely to teach include:

Writing Practice (like our Composition). This class meets once a week for 90 minutes, is taught in English, and is required of students in years 3, 4, and 5. It is taught in both semesters. Students learn essay writing skills, practicing beginnings, thesis statements, paragraphs, conclusions, and also practice forms of writing including comparison/contrast, description, narration, analysis, etc. Any good composition textbook is an appropriate text for this course, and the Institute has many up-to-date copies of such texts on hand, but is always thankful for additional contemporary anthologies, readers, grammar handbooks, and texts.

Home Reading. This class meets once a week for 90 minutes and is offered to students in years 3, 4, and 5 in both semesters. Students read a work of literature in English. Typically students read 1-3 chapters per week (20-60 pages).  Discussion of the text might focus on the text as a work of literature, but also as a document that offers opportunities for learning about English-speaking cultures. Typically, students might be asked to complete short written assignments, quizzes to aide in reading comprehension, and tests to aide in vocabulary building. The Institute likes to have enough of the Home Reading texts on hand so that each student has a copy. Home Reading classes are usually 15 students each and an American faculty member might be asked to teach two such courses. The Institute is grateful when American faculty bring Home Reading texts with them to Russia. If it is possible to bring videos and DVDs of movies that have been made about or from the texts or the authors of the texts, these are also very useful, and the technology exists to play them. Texts that have been used for Home Reading include: The Color Purple, The Joy Luck Club, This Boy’s Life, Black Boy, The Winter of Our Discontent, The Great Gatsby and others. 

Current Events. This course meets once a week for 90 minutes and is offered to 4^th year students in the spring and to 5^th year students in the spring and fall. It is taught in English. The course focuses on discussion and analysis of current world events, with the aim of building reading, writing, and oral skills. American faculty might wish to bring texts with them, including magazines, newspapers and essays or articles about politics and culture, but also can plan to have access to the internet as a source of information.

Other Courses. If you want to teach a special course while you are in Russia (Women's Studies, Theater, etc), you can always try to arrange this with Komi faculty. Sometimes American students will be asked to "teach" informally in some area that they have expertise in, such as "American Culture and Food."

When Will I Teach?

 The teaching day is divided up into four classes, beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 3:35. The teaching week at the Institute also includes Saturday. The weekly timetable is posted each week and varies from week to week. American faculty can request to teach on certain days and at certain times, and efforts will be made to accommodate them.

What Technology Is Available to Help Me With My Teaching?

Copying: The main office of the program in foreign languages has an office-sized copy-machine, on which large projects can be copied. The Department of English, in 2004, had a small portable copier that could only copy very small projects—a page or two in length for a limited number of students.  Since students work closely in groups that are constant throughout their five years at the institute, and many live near each other in the student dorms, they are able to share copies of texts, and are willing to make their own copies if necessary. If you make a lot of Xerox copies in America, you might think about readjusting your teaching so that you don’t need to do this. It just doesn’t seem to be a part of working life at the Institute.

Computers: The department of foreign languages has a good computer lab, with about a dozen up-to-date computers, hooked up to the internet. In 2004, internet access was mostly available, but somewhat unreliable. Classes can be held in the lab, which also had a printer. The English Department also had, in 2004, two new computers, with internet access, and a good printer. 

Television/VCR/DVD: If your teaching plans include videos or DVDs, the department has at least one television set with a VCR and DVD player, but it may be advisable to ask UMF’s media center to make “Russian” copies of videos that you want to show. If you have a DVD player on your laptop computer, you can also hook your laptop up to the television screen to play movies. The department is grateful when American faculty bring videos to add to the department library.

Telephone/Internet: The dormitory room where visiting American faculty stay, right next door to the Institute, now has a telephone for making and receiving local calls, and for receiving long-distance calls. If you bring a laptop computer, you can buy internet service and hook up from the dorm room.

 What about Other Teaching Materials?

Paper, pens, notebooks, etc. are all available in Syktyvkar. The department has a collection of American and British literature, a collection of videos, and a collection of composition texts and grammar handbooks. Office assistants in the department can provide a list of these items if necessary. Any additions that American exchange faculty can make to these collections are welcomed. You might ask before you come if there are any special texts or films that might be desired. (In 2004, for instance, faculty expressed regret that they didn’t have enough copies of The Great Gatsby to teach a Home Reading course, and they said they’d really like to have a video of "The Joy Luck Club"). Books are rather expensive to send to Russia (about $70 per small box), and take from four to six weeks to get here.