It feels pretty darn awesome when I don’t need to use English. I want to rid myself of speaking English unless absolutely necessary, because I don’t want to use English as a “fall-back” language or clutch onto it. Today, we spoke to the French teacher only in Russian and French. While I did relay some words to English to a friend, I liked that I used Russian as translating “middle” language when I spoke to the French teacher. It made me feel really proud about my knowledge in languages. I was also very comfortable speaking in those two languages, although I admit…I am beginning to forget French, while replacing the words with much more Russian nowadays. I haven’t touched French since May during the IB examinations!

At home, I mainly speak with my host parents in Russian. While they are curious about how to say certain household items in English, our conversations are mostly basic Russian. I try to maintain good grammar when speaking in Russian, but when I don’t have the right words to say, I don’t mind breaking a few rules to communicate better. My family consists of amazing people: a mom, dad and two sisters–of 14 years and 7 years. They teach me new Russian words everyday, and make me feel comfortable in the house.