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TEACHING EVALUATIONS
I am very satisfied with Vika as my Russian professor. She is extremely intelligent and capable of teaching the language to English speakers. It is very apparent that she is extremely knowledgeable about linguistics and about the best techniques with which to teach Russian. She is always very sweet and enthusiastic in class. On a more personal level, Vika is an excellent role model for young women whom wish to succeed in the world of academia. I have been, time and time again, impressed with her knowledge and work in the field of linguistics at such a young age. She is an excellent teacher, in and outside of class.
Amazing Professor. She provided various exercises and group activities that were both fun and informative. Every day in class she was so excited and helpful when it came to explaining aspects of grammar or culture that I was confused with. I felt completely comfortable talking with her and conversations, where she explained grammar mistakes to me clearly and effectively, really helped me improve me Russian. A great professor!
I would absolutely recommend her to other students. She is such a nice person and is so enthusiastic about teaching and helping her students. Classes were exciting and, because of that, I learned so much and was able to enjoy my summer. Once again, an amazing professor!!
This was by far the best Russian class I’d ever sat in. Discussions were almost always genuinely interesting and I forgot I was speaking Russian. Vika is a gifted teacher and relates well to students.
Absolutely! she’s fun to talk to, always tries to stimulate discussion. She is one of the most positive teachers I’ve ever had – she looks on the bright side of a train wreck :) She’s GREAT.
I thought that Vika did a great job. Half-way through the course, I told her that I was concerned that we were not doing enough exercises that help with intonation. I think she took me advice (and perhaps the advice of other students) because after that we regularly did exercises to help improve our intonation.
I would highly recommend Vika to any student pursuing Russian language. She is kind, intelligent, accessible, and she presents the material clearly and effectively.
Everything was absolutely amazing!
Vika did an excellent job of using outside materials, like songs and internet cartoons, to stimulate interest and provide variety in class. She also recorded our vocabulary words and posted them on the Internet so we could hear how a native speaker pronounce them. She used handouts effectively and her sense of humor helped make class entertaining.
I would recommend Vika very highly because she has a genuine love for her language that made me want to learn it. I also feel like she was willing to spend time with me outside of class to answer questions.
Vika is an excellent instructor. It was difficult to stay awake some mornings, hers being the first class, but her class was always hilarious and always interesting. I particularly liked the use of the Russian cartoon “Masyanya” to build vocabulary and stimulate interest
She’s a great, knowledgeable instructor and very concerned for her students.
I would highly recommend Vika to any student pursuing Russian language. She is kind, intelligent, accessible, and she presents the material clearly and effectively.
Extremely well prepared, very involved, very warm, very encouraging. My oral comprehension is relatively poor and sometimes class went too fast for me – but I never felt really lost, so perhaps the speed was a good thing – forcing me to try harder to understand. She loves teaching, and that’s a wonderful thing to convey to a student.
Vika is great! She brings very interesting, sometimes controversial topics in for discussion, asks good questions, but is also able to move the class along if it gets stuck on a certain point, so to cover the planned material. She relates very well to students. She is very organized, very encouraging, and has a lot of creative ideas about how to engage the students –movies, songs, etc.
Vika’s choice of topics was perfect – while keeping us in line with everyday vocabulary she supplemented the material with topics of general cultural interest. She’s an expert and always clear about everything she explains
It was an incredible time. We learned a lot of new and important information and I really speak more logically because of this class.
Enthusiastic, encouraging, helpful, great use of materials for class.
Very useful and enthusiastic. She obviously loves to converse with her students and took lots of interest in our progress. My only complaint is that we should have started using “Let’s talk about life” earlier. The overall quality of the course improved drastically after this. She rocks!
Vika is very effective w/a wonderfully supportive attitude towards students. She has a very vast knowledge of the subject matter and has the rare gift of making it simple and understandable on the 1st try. She is extremely patient and overall very good at giving feedback. She was my favorite person to have conversations with because I always felt good and as if I had enjoyed myself while learning something new.
She is just absolutely fabulous. She is young and has lots of talent, she is only going to better and any student would greatly benefit from having her as an instructor.
Vika is a very clear systematic teachers, ideal for my learning style. Very calm, encouraging and interested teacher. Good examples to practice forming sentences from. VERY helpful towards students. Extremely good knowledge of English-Russian-English. She was always involved with students, encouraging, gave time freely. Provided interest in Russian music and culture. Taught us “Russian things” outside of class also.
Her knowledge of both English and Russian is tremendous. She is patient yet persistent. Her explanations are clear. She is able to explain as deeply or as superficially as the student requires.
Great instructor! Definitely, one of the BEST at explaining the material in a simple and understandable manner.
Ms. Driagina was a charm to work with. She has the ability to listen and connect with the students on a personal level which is rare these days. |
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College of Education |
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Language and Literacy Education |
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Foreign Language Education |
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Linguistics Program |
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GA Department of Education |
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Image from the Middlebury College Language Schools website
I’ve spent several fantastic summers at the Middlebury College Russian Summer School as an instructor, researcher, and presenter. If you are studying languages or interested in SLA acquisition, consider spending your summer at Middlebury. They have scholarships available for students and researchers, e.g.
Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace
Visit their website for more information.
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