ECHO Eastern Europe Russian & Ukrainian language School

The teacher Tetjana was very commited in teaching me Ukrainian. The facilites are in a good location, easy to reach and adequate. Despite the difficult overall situation the school and my teacher did a great job.

The room was very nice and accomodating. Marina was a competent teacher with a lot of patience. The lessons were very adapted to my level of knowledge and helped me to advance my level of actively speaking the russian language.

The school was good, located in a good area too.

The teachers are committed and always willing to help you progress with your language learning.

The school administration helped me with everything I asked them to help me with too.

I was very pleased with my stay i Kiev.

I had 1 to 1 lessons with Marina, who is a very good teacher, explained everything very well and is very friendly. She helped me a lot and I think I learned a lot in 1 week. Also I liked the school, it is easy to find and in a good location. Everything in the school is fine. The course books I was given were also very good (1 main book and 1 workbook). Actually I was not expecting to be given course books for free, so that was a pleasant surprise! I am nearly a complete beginner, so if anyone who is a complete beginner wants to study at this school, then it is fine for that.

I arranged my own accommodation, as I have been to Kiev many times before, and so I just prefer to find my own apartment via Air BnB, but for first timers in Kiev they may find it more convenient to use the schools accommodation service, especially as I think they can provide home-stays etc.

The school provides lots of information on activities to do in Kiev, but again, as I have visited Kiev many times before and am familiar with the city I just arranged my own activities.

For people who want to study Russian, Kiev is a great choice as it is a beautiful city, and you can practice Russian everywhere as it seems Russian is the most commonly spoken language in Kiev. It also seems to be a very safe and clean city. Also Kiev has loads of good entertainment, including bars, cafes, restaurants, everything you need to enjoy a nice city stay in a world class city!

There was nothing I didn't like.

For anyone who wishes to study Russian, in a mostly Russian speaking city, I would definitely recommend ECHO language school.

The only reason I give four stars instead of five is because the school is so small, there was not a class that fit my level very well. I ordered group lessons, and instead did individuals lessons the entire time. My individuals classes were exceptional. Lyudmila does a great job. This is also a lovely area. I highly recommend this school, and would come back.

Everyting is well organized and my teacher is also very professional. Location is good, and facilities are that good that is possible.

As far as I am concerned, I chose to spend only two weeks in this school during autumn vacation; in fact that's the only time off that I have got at this time of the year, otherwise I swear that I would have stayed much longer I hasten to say it. We had every day -five days a week, from Monday to Friday- four lessons of 45 minutes each, but in fact it was rather a long lesson divided into two parts with an short interruption in the middle of the morning for a quick cup of tea or to take a walk to the toilets well you know, one being the consequence of the other...anyway all this taking place from 9H30 to 13H00, and for my part I first chose it that way not because I got bored or because I was afraid of getting bored or anything of the same kind, or because I didn't want to carry on a little bit longer reading and speaking with the teacher and my classmates but simply because my stay over there was limited in time and consequently I just wanted to keep the possibility during this trip, in the afternoon then, to visit the capital city of Ukraine.

In the class form we were five students coming respectively from Czech republic, England, USA, Italy and France (I was the Frenchman of the group), four men and a young lady from Italy very "sympatichnaya" (she was speaking French as well) as they say in Russian! I really appreciated the lessons a lot, and you know, it was sometimes very funny because Russian was actually the language we used to communicate between us, in the classroom of course, but also during "playtime" , not because we didn't have an other language of communication at our disposal (I remind you that two of us were native English speakers) of course and even though something which would have been much easier for all us to use (English of course not surprisingly) but because we had agreed to play the game even if sometimes it was not so easy to understand each other because of our differences of accents coming from our mother tongues and also of our different levels in spoken Russian of course, but nevertheless everything went well and even the American (from Chicago) and the English (from Oxford) used to speak Russian between them! can you believe it!

Anyway, I also want to make a special mention to our teacher, a woman with great human qualities, very talented in her job, qualified, educated and experienced teacher, always giving us good advices both in terms of our progress en Russian and the best way to take life in general, she never hesitated to speak about her personal experiences and life to help us to better understand Russian language and Russian culture as well as her country Ukraine, so I really want here to thank her from the deep of my heart.
As a conclusion, I do hope that this brief report will help other students to make a decision and to come to Ukraine, but as far as I am concerned, so doubt I will come back and I hope soon.
Best regards to everybody,
yours truly from France
Jérôme Renault

Very good teachers (Ludmilla and Olga). I learnt a lot. Lessons and homework to do. It iwas really intensive. Morning I was alone with Ludmilla and afternoon we were 3 students with Olga. The location is easy to find and well situated.

I had no time to make activities.

The housing was a bad experience for me. Just one night in the family and then i was in an hotel.

Maybe I'll come back !

Very good teacher who adapted her teaching to my needs.

The school is situated at the center of Kyiv, in a very charming quarter (with beautiful old buildings). Good facilities.

I didn't take any activities because I was not available in the afternoon. Therefore, I cannot say anything about that. As regards the housing, I was there for my work and slept in a hotel.

I spent less than 3 months studying both Russian and Ukrainian at Echo EE in Kiev, and my experience was overwhelmingly positive.
I rented an apartment independently, so I cannot account for the housing provided, but the classrooms are located in the center of Podil, which is the historical center of Kiev, and there were many stores, cafes, and restaurants nearby. I was able to walk to class, though there were 2 metro stops very close to the school, and taxis are quite reasonably priced as well.
Perhaps the best aspect of Echo EE school is the personalized approach that is taken to improve the student's studies and achieve results. The school created a flexible schedule that best fit my preferences and learning style, and the Director Mikhail is very communicative and often checks in to see how things are going and if anything can be improved. My teachers were excellent, and we utilized books, audio recordings, videos, and Internet resources to work on all aspects of language learning. In my time studying there, my Russian improved greatly, and I was able to exceed my own expectations and pass the TOEFL exam that the school administered in cooperation with Moscow State University. I didn't know any Ukrainian at all before going to Kiev, but I also made quick progress with it thanks to Olena, who also provided some very interesting insights into Ukrainian culture. Both she and my Russian teacher Elena went out of their way to improve my language abilities, and even offered excursions to historical and cultural sites in Kiev.
I highly recommend this school to anyone who is serious about wanting to improve their Russian or Ukrainian language levels.

I studied in Dnepropetrovsk for three weeks with teacher Olga.The lessons focused on grammar and vocabulary which I needed and I feel that I made great progress.
The school building was closed for the summer, but we met in a kind
of conference room. So, I cannot rate the location or facilities of the school. The books and materials that Olga gave me were
very appropriate for my level, B1.

Because I stayed at a hotel and did not have school housing, I cannot rate this.

Overall, it was a wonderful and rewarding experience.

Super professional teachers who were very committed to the lessons. The location is very good and can be easily reached by metro. The school is equipped with the most important facilities. The school focuses on the teaching of languages ​. It is carried out in a relaxed atmosphere. But always have a goal in mind. Excess stuff is missing and is not necessary. You can master what they are teaching because of the good and effective way of imparting knowledge
I can highly recommend the school. I even had private lessons . 10 out of 10 stars .

I did not participate with any of the activities , because I had 6 hours daily private lessons and then exercises, there were many things to do.

From my experience, the only positive thing about this school is its central location.
I took private lessons for three weeks, about four to six lessons per day. The teacher was not very motivated, the room lacked any educational tools, including a white board. We used one textbook which consisted of copied exercises without explanation. Throughout the day I spent four to six hours doing only written exercise after exercise, without any interactive features or nuanced explanation from my teacher.
After three days I asked for audio exercises, but found out that the school does not have any CD's, neither a CD-player. Which ended up from my own initiative, I had to find audio exercises on the Internet at home and then bring them with a laptop to the class in order not to do only written exercise by exercise all day.

It was by far the worst language school I have ever been to - I previously studied French at Institut Francais and Spanish in Spain and those classes were much better equipped, lessons were more interactive and teachers were better trained.

Another drawback was the availability of my teacher. I was told that I will be able to schedule the lessons myself - i.e. have three in the morning and three in the evening. However, I found out that my teacher is busy most of the time and so several times I had to take five classes in a row. After being informed about the situation I asked for a reduction of lessons in exchange of a refund to be given back to my account, but there was no possibility of that option even though I have not yet taken the lessons. The explanation I received was "The money is already in the bank."

I have studied Russian in St. Petersburg and Riga. The quality of the instruction and the level of organization was good at both locations. However, studying in Kiev is much cheaper. I plan to study at Kiev next time I return to Europe and further my Russian language skills because it is a better value. My Russian language did improve significantly while studying at Echo, just not as much in a month as I could have in Riga and especially St. Petersburg.

I was very satisfied with the performance of the school. The administration and the teachers know their job. Everything ran very smoothly.

The classes were filled with grammar. The teacher was very professional. The location a bit difficult to find. Facilities were non-existent. The activities were well-planned. As for the housing, I chose a hotel of my own choice.

I really enjoyed the instruction and know-how provided by the teachers at the school. Learning Russian was difficult, but the instruction provided on conjugation of verbs and explanation of tenses has been essential to my progress in learning Russian. I really would have enjoyed consistent group education courses and more flexibility with the timing of courses. The location is relatively central in Kiev. I appreciated the activities offered by the school. It would be nice to have more cultural-related activities as these would better assist the understanding of the language.

Natalia is a fantastic teacher. I worked with her in a group and individually. She worked on my grammar and my vocabulary. I visited my tutor in Washington upon my return and she was amazed at how much my conversation skills had improved. She said "your teacher in Kiev did a great job! "

The facilities are simple but adequate. The location is the best in Kiev! Podol (Подoл) is full of restaurants, bars, and coffee houses. Its a nice walk up Андре́евский спуск to to the upper part of Kiev. You can also catch the metro at Kontraktova Square and get just about anywhere fast. There is a public library very near the school that was good for doing homework.

Kiev is a fascinating and beautiful city. It is great for walking. I walked about 20 miles every weekend just visiting the sites. Don't forget to visit the World War II museum and to go into some of churches.

I did a homestay, which was inexpensive and perfectly reasonable. There was not as much interaction with the family as I expected. It was more like a rooming house. It was a 15 minute walk to the school. It was a great value.

The experience as a whole was excellent. My teacher was very good. Even though we had 4 and a half hours of teaching each day without a break, the time went fast and I was rarely bored.

The facilities were fine. Toilet facilities would have been nice but overall the classrooms were fine for individual tuition.