Language learning started for John in high school as he was looking to college applications and requisite language experience. Spanish was the choice and proved useful in his job at a vineyard after graduation. His next language adventure began when he decided to serve a mission through his church. He was assigned to Lithuania and booked a trip shortly thereafter.
John Nelson – Being a Language Nerd is Difficult! (some Spanish, Lithuanian, Russian, and some Chinese)
All Student Stories, Graduate Programs, Nonproliferation and Terrorism StudiesLanguage learning started for John in high school as he was looking to college applications and requisite language experience. Spanish was the choice and proved useful in his job at a vineyard after graduation. His next language adventure began when he decided to serve a mission through his church. He was assigned to Lithuania and booked a trip shortly thereafter.
Story by Adlan Margoev, Dual degree NPTS (MIIS/MGIMO), ’18
Elizabeth started her language journey with a high school student exchange program to Marbella, Spain. In that small coastal town, she learned Spanish through immersion in the culture and was able to gain proficiency in the language otherwise unattainable through classroom learning.
For me, Russian language has been a key to answering many questions about the relationship between Russian and Soviet societies and their domestic and foreign policies. Aside from always having a Russian gymnastics coach and ballet teachers, I became especially motivated to learn Russian after participating in a Russian ballet summer intensive in 2009. While we found ways to communicate, I always wanted to be able to understand and speak their language to discover what to me were secrets of their culture and outlook.
When I was young, every day after school I would take the bus all the way across New York City to the Mid-Manhattan Library downtown, because on the third floor they had language textbooks. At my school there was a pretty good language program; you could learn French, Spanish, German or Latin, but I was fascinated by exotic languages that people don’t usually learn in American schools. I dabbled in Romanian, Welsh, Japanese, Swahili and Russian.
Story by Noah Mayhew, Dual degree NPTS (MIIS/MGIMO), ’18
