Smorodina
Study in Batumi · live the language · discover Georgia
Russian that becomes part of your life
A premium immersive season: Ivy-informed teaching, a Russian-speaking host family, and Georgia lived day by day — not a catalog of classes.
Smorodina — named for a painting that opened Europe to a Russian cultural code
The season film — currants, immersion, Georgia
In the nineteenth century, trompe-l’œil still lifes were rare in Russia. Count Fyodor Tolstoy brought the genre to perfection: his watercolor Berries of Red and White Currants (1818) astonished viewers with the illusion of living fruit. Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna admired it so deeply that she commissioned the motif again and again — a diplomatic gift of refinement.
That is the spirit of our school: Russian through art, history, and lived immersion — language that stays with you like a taste you cannot forget. Watch the film: the berry returns as living image, not a copy of the museum piece.
Count Fyodor Tolstoy — Berries of Red and White Currants, 1818. Tretyakov Gallery
For people who want Russian with depth#
Professionals, heritage speakers, and serious learners — not a tourist course. Small cohorts, real life in Georgia, and a clear study plan.
Professionals & diplomats
When clarity in Russian matters for work, travel, or negotiation — and you want structure without a campus timetable.
Heritage & family ties
Reconnect with relatives, literature, and identity through living speech at the table and in the city.
Students & scholars
Intensive progress before a degree, research, or a career path that needs real Russian — with small cohorts and personal feedback.
One immersion, three layers#
Study in Batumi, live with a Russian-speaking host family, and travel Georgia on a guided landmarks week included in the flagship tracks.
Study in Batumi
In-person classes take place in Batumi, in a classroom set up for a small seminar group.
A home, not a hostel
Private room, breakfast and dinner — and you meet your host family before you commit to the match.
Georgia as curriculum
Masterclasses in season, and a guided country tour in the flagship packages — with guides who know both the map and the story.
Three pillars of a Yale Study Abroad–informed experience#
Full immersion
Since 2023, Yale University’s summer language school has run Study Abroad in Georgia with local host families and classes that take place at Euro-2000. Smorodina works with teachers and host families from this circle, so you enter the same hospitality network.
Ivy-informed rigor
Our founder spent three years teaching and coordinating inside Yale’s Study Abroad in Georgia — RFL and Culture courses shaped by Ivy standards of structure, deliberate practice, and articulate feedback. As an independent immersive school, Smorodina carries that discipline forward with more room for your pace, goals, and personal experience.
Rooted in Georgia
Everyone involved in the program is a local expert: coordinators, guides, teachers, and host families have both Georgian and Russian roots and connections — which makes their work highly effective on the ground, while still preserving strong language competence so our students can reach their desired level of Russian in a short time. Warm hospitality, stunning landscapes, and a vibrant international community — the perfect stage for growth.
Two seasons — one clear path#
Start with a flagship immersion, then refine weeks, family stay, and the tour in the atelier if you wish.
Clear orientation before the call#
Flagship packages set the frame; the atelier and a private proposal refine the exact path.
$3,940
Autumn 2026 · first launch
Full autumn track $3,940: two study weeks, host family for both, excursion week with hotels, and a session film. The tour is included — not an extra. A deposit by 17 October 2026 locks this first-launch price; the $60 registration fee is extra.
from $6,400
Summer flagship
Full summer package orientation — online prep, Tbilisi, Svaneti, Batumi family weeks, and tour.
from $450 / week
Host family
Russian-speaking home stay with breakfast and dinner — add weeks to match your study block.
“I started with almost nothing. Now I can hold basic conversations with my wife’s family entirely in Russian — and that has given me a deeper connection to my family.”
Ready to begin your season of Russian?
Tell us your goals — we will craft a program around your calendar and your voice.
Start the conversation