The Foreign Service Journal, October 2011

the chart — which had now been joined by other charts and tables in an endless stream of stuff I couldn’t seem to memorize or use properly. I Love This Book! Then one day, Inessa took out a book that she used occasionally for one of her other students — a book I had not seen before. It had a nice yellow cover, pretty pictures and bold print. It looked like a book should — with a table of contents and everything! What was even more amazing was that each ‘yrok’ (lesson) was composed of simple text, grammatical explana- tions and countless exercises to drill into unwilling minds the point of the chapter, each lesson building on what was learned previously. The Russian equivalent of Dick and Jane , at last! I snatched the book out of her hands, told her in no uncertain terms that I was keeping it until I left Kyiv and that I was going to start all over, working chapter by chapter until I worked my way through the entire book. My new mantra became “I love this book!” (Spoken in Russian with the correct accusative ending, of course.) And like the good, if not gifted, stu- dent that I am, I diligently did just that. Inessa and I went over the exercises I had done the day before and talked about life in increasingly more fluid streams of Russian. As the language began coming more easily to me, I could speak with- out being so paralyzed by fear and anx- iety. Rather than dreading my Russian classes, I now looked forward to them. Still, with the end of my tour rap- idly approaching, I anticipated taking my Russian language-qualifying test with the enthusiasm of someone about to board a train to the gulag. But with each lesson, I grew a little more confi- dent, and the grapefruit-sized lump in my stomach shrank to softball size by the time I took the test on April 22. See Dick and What’s Her Name? If you’ve ever had a kidney stone, then you have an idea of what it feels like to sit across the table from a lan- guage tester who is staring at you, wait- ing, while you try to dredge words up out of your memory banks that you know you know … that you remem- bered this morning, but can’t seem to remember now that you need them. I kept thinking, “I really deserve a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s after this,” while I tried to keep my eyes from drifting to the clock on the wall. When it ended, I was shaken, feel- ing terribly embarrassed and disap- pointed in myself. I slunk down the hallway hoping no one would see me and ask how it went. It was then that our kind and sym- pathetic human resources officer found me. Pulling me into his office, he told me how proud he was of me for having studied for so long and having tested in such a difficult language when I really didn’t have to. He calmed me down, helped me regain my dignity and sent me out the door feeling much less beaten-up. This is what a good HR officer, and a good friend, does. Still, I had no idea how I had done. There was no way of knowing, no bar against which I could measure my per- formance. I ate my Ben and Jerry’s that night feeling slightly sick. A few weeks later, I learned that I had not done as badly as I had thought. While I didn’t achieve the 2/2 I wanted, I came awfully close with a 1+/1+. And I have the satisfaction of knowing that I did it all by myself, with the bonus of having met such colorful characters along the way. I’m now at my new post, Tallinn, and resumed my Russian lessons again on Sept. 1. Estonia is further north than Ukraine, with longer winters — plenty of dark days and nights for in- door pursuits like studying charts of Russian case endings and curling up in a chair to read Russian Stories for Be- ginners . Who knows? This teacher may even have lesson plans and a book! But just in case, I have a photocopy of my beloved old Russian book from Kyiv. 54 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1 My new post has plenty of dark days and nights, perfect for studying charts of Russian case endings and curling up with Russian Stories for Beginners . Dear Readers: In order to produce a high- quality product, the FSJ depends on the revenue it earns from advertising. You can help with this. Please let us know the names of companies that have provided good service to you — a hotel, insurance company, auto dealership, or other concern. A referral from our readers is the best entrée! You Are Our Eyes & Ears! Ed Miltenberger Advertising & Circulation Manager Tel: (202) 944-5507 E-mail: miltenberger@afsa.org