by Indra Ekmanis While tens of thousands of Russian heritage speakers live in Washington State, few have the opportunity to study Russian outside of the home or in community schools. STARTALK, a language program at the University of Washington, is helping to change this. The summer program offers a chance for high school students and

by Laura Lucht October’s blue sky shone outside the classroom window, softened by treetops and by the haze of exhaust from Almaty’s heavy traffic. I fidgeted in a wooden seat, half-way back at the far right side of the classroom. In my black business suit, bright scarf and heeled shoes, I felt slightly out of

by Eric Damiana At the beginning of September, a group of eight students and one UW professor descended on Prague, Czech Republic. We stayed for three weeks, taking intensive language courses and enjoying daily cultural and academic excursions in and around Prague. The first few days were, as with any trip abroad, exhausting and trying,

By Laura A. Dean Čaka iela, a main street running through the Latvian capital of Riga, was named for the famous Latvian writer Aleksanders Čaks, but in the post-communist period it has become synonymous with something more sinister. I first crossed this street in 1999, while studying abroad at the University of Latvia through my