Clases as usual. I sat in on one of the second-year classes. Things seem good there. I liked how they used their online textbook projected on the wall. There were some English explanations to help out, but the teachers kept exclusively to Russian. The last teacher of the day, Sanira, had stellar diction and wasn't afraid to speak loudly. This is frankly awesome for the classroom, especially when there is some background noise from the fan that cools the room and from the street just outside the window.

I had never thought of it before today, but the fact that Russians are culturally taught to speak quietly is a significant disadvantage when teaching their langauge. A student needs to be able to hear the sounds of the language clearly, and if the teacher speaks to softly, the student will never be able to learn the sound distinctions that are atypical for his native language.