Reviews of Lev Tolstoy Russian School, Kiev, Ukraine

The teachers are very thorough and committed to our learning.

If you've only got a few weeks in Kiev, take your studies to as many different cafe's to explore and get a vibe for the city.

It's a tiny school, but excellent nonetheless. It's better suited for committed students who are committed to learning the language without expectations of much social experience with other students as it's small.

Kiev is not a particularly beautiful city, but has improved greatly through the years, and does offer many things to see and do.

The teachers are all excellent, they have slightly different styles of teaching, but all effective none the less. I feel I made excellent progress with reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition, however the grammar is extremely complicated and difficult for persons over 40 to learn. Unfortunately the stresses of dealing with my work situation while studying has impeded my ability to focus on learning the language as well as I should have, to no fault of the school.

I loved how interactive the classes are. You are really stimulated to practice with your instructors and fellow students by talking to each other. Other than that, I already noted a lot of things I really enjoyed.

The business lunches in Kyiv are a great way to try different Ukrainian dishes! There's always free exhibitions at PinchukArtCentre (near Khreshatyk) which may be worth checking out. Also, I went to a festival at Kurazh Bazar which was really nice. I was told they organise something there about once every 3 or 4 weeks so you might want to keep an eye out for that as well. Similarly, I went to a really nice dance event at ArtZavodPlatforma (a really cool old factory site!) even though I don't usually go to stuff like that. It was called Белые Ночи/White Nights and I think it's a recurring event. Finally, I received some tips for nice lesser-known cafés from some locals I met at a nice cocktail bar called Tom Sour (near Maidan Nezalezhnosti): Хвильовий/Hvyl'ovyy, Pink Freud (both in Podil) and Кеды искусствоведа (near Khreshatyk).

I couldn't find the school at first because there's no sign outside and it's located in an apartment building. Also, it took me a while before I understood the front door so you might want to ask someone how it works.

I absolutely loved Kyiv. Everybody was really friendly and really easy to talk to. I didn't go shopping, so I can't really comment on that. As for public transport: everything is quite easy to reach by metro, but it's quite crowded (even though I was told that it's even worse outside the holiday period). There are loads of Uber drivers in Kyiv 24/7 though, so that's always an option as well (and still relatively cheap)!

I did the super intensive course with group lessons in the morning and private lessons in the afternoon because I could not stay in Kyiv very long. It was a great decision, because I feel like I progressed immensely in just 5,5 days of lessons. I think I learned more in my time here than in a year of following electives on Russian language at my own university in The Netherlands. The pace was good, the study book was good, and the instructions were very clear, both in the group lessons and in my private lessons. The lessons were well-balanced and very interactive. They really helped me improve my speaking, listening, vocabulary and grammar. My fellow students were all very positive as well, plus the instructors were very nice! I would definitely recommend the Lev Tolstoy Institute to anyone who wants to learn Russian in Ukraine and might actually come back myself! I don't think the school offered any afternoon activities or excursions, but I didn't really ask either, so I could be wrong. At any rate, there's plenty to do and see in Kyiv, so you'd probably be able to entertain yourself for weeks.