MEDIA RELEASE

CSUN Students Culminate Summer Russian Program with Luncheon

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., July 24, 2008) — A celebration of Russian folk music, dance, food and song will mark the end of Cal State Northridge’s 2008 Summer Russian Language Immersion Residential Program, and the beginning of a successful future for 12 students.

The luncheon on Friday, July 25, will showcase the best of Russian culture as students commemorate the end of a rigorous six-week program designed to enhance their professional language skills for future employment. Festivities will take place in the Northridge Center, located in the University Student Union, from noon to 2 p.m.

"At the beginning of the program, students take a pledge stating they will only speak Russian for the initial six weeks," said Dina Mokhnatkin, director of the Russian Language Program at CSUN. "They must speak it in class, dorms—everywhere—just as if they were in Russia."

Funded by the government, the Russian Immersion Program is part of the Strategic Language Initiative (SLI) designed to expand foreign language education in the United States including critical areas of Arabic, Chinese, Korean and Persian.

CSUN’s Russian Program offers six weeks of language classes and conversation practice seven days a week, including language and culture activities throughout the day. Since it is a residential program, language learning and culture building occur throughout the week and into the weekend, including evening activities and excursions.

"Students get to listen to native speakers who are at the top of their field in science, economics, journalism and music," said Mokhnatkin. "We also take them on field trips to see Russian culture first-hand. For example, we took them to a Russian Orthodox church to not only see the culture but the architecture as well."

Overall, the program spans 13 months in which the students learn to incorporate Russian with their applied major. Each student will be assigned a mentor who is a professional within the student’s major and who employs the Russian language within their job. At the end of the next school year, students will get a full-paid trip to Russia where they will study abroad for six weeks, completing the program.

This is the first year for the Russian Language Immersion Program and so far it has proven to be successful, said Mokhnatkin.

"All of the professors involved in the program work as a team to make it successful," she said. "Without the help and support of the humanities dean, Elizabeth Say, and humanities academic resources manager, Elizabeth Whirledge, I would not be able to do this."