Never ever met or even saw Professor Kudyma. Entire class is taught by the TA, so your experience with this class will depend mainly on your TA. The course itself wasn't bad. Russian as a language is stereotypically very difficult but I feel like this class made it approachable and engaging. I had never taken any slavic language classes but I felt good about this course throughout the quarter. I feel more or less comfortable with basic phrases and such and actually enjoyed this class a lot. There is a good amount of homework due before each class and you are required to go to russian tutoring 8x a quarter and attend russian culture events outside of class which are held on campus. I came into this class intimidated by the difficulty of the language but I'm finishing this class with confidence that I can continue to build my fluency in Russian 2.

Do not take this class if you are looking for an easy language.

Selling the required textbook (which is used in every class) almost as good as new at a discounted price.

Find me on Instagram, soniuh.

The department is full of passionate teachers. The class is great but it does go pretty fast.

Phenomenal instructor. Admittedly, I chose this seemingly random language since everything else was full, but I am totally engaged in Russia and I changed my major to Russian Studies after this class. At the end of a single quarter I am able to converse and write detailed blog entries about my life, and I learned more than I did taking four years of another language in high school. I am definitely continuing beyond the university requirement and will take all her available classes. She teaches most Russian classes, and is also a Ukrainian teacher.

Grading is almost a non-issue, because you will know the material so well it's impossible to get a bad grade.

Russian is actually her second language, yet she got a MA in it. Amazing.