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Russian Program Thrives at Western High School
By Emily Gaines Buchler (Video by Chip Dizárd)
Jim Sweigert’s students always fare well in the National Russian Essay Contest. This year, all seven participants took home medals after two hours of writing in Russian about a surprise topic: things I like, and why I like them. The results aren’t surprising, considering the high enthusiasm and focus of students. Sitting in rows, they respond in unison—and perfect Russian—to Sweigert’s warm-up activity in class. He reads English words from a restaurant menu, and students respond with the Russian equivalents: колбаса for sausage, осетрина for sturgeon and so on through a list of conventional Russian foods. Much of the class involves speaking and listening, which Sweigert says is intentional. “As a grad student, my professors told me I was the best in class,” he says. “But then I got to Russia and couldn’t speak a word.” That’s why Sweigert emphasizes risk-taking and self-confidence. “I set up opportunities for students to feel comfortable trying out new words and phrases. I tell them they have to open their mouths and speak clearly and loudly—even if they’re not sure what they’re saying. The point is to try. Otherwise, they’ll get to a foreign country and be at a loss.” Unlike Spanish and French, learning Russian requires students to first learn the 33-letter Russian (or Cyrillic) alphabet, a mixture of Latin and Greek that can intimidate non-native speakers. “When I first looked at the language, I thought there was no way I could read it,” recalls sophomore and contest winner Aliya Kingwood. “But once I learned the alphabet, which only took a few days, it wasn’t so bad.”
Despite the higher level of difficulty, with 150 students in Sweigert’s five classes, the Russian program is thriving at Western High School, one of two schools in Baltimore City Public Schools to offer Russian. (The other is Baltimore International Academy, a language immersion school with programs in Russian, Chinese Mandarin and French.) When Sweigert came to Western five years ago, many students took Russian by default. “Spanish or French didn’t fit their schedules, so students opted for Russian,” he says. But that scenario has changed, with more students signing on by choice. “Students take Russian because they know Mr. Sweigert is fun,” explains Kingwood. “The way he teaches—it’s active. He doesn’t just write stuff on the board. He keeps it interesting.” “He tells us about stuff he learned in Russia—and stories about real people,” adds another sophomore and contest winner, Sarah Blonder, “like their superstitions and what they do when they visit someone else’s house.” Having traveled to Russia some 20 times in 21 years, Sweigert is full of stories about “the most fascinating country in the world,” he says. He integrates these stories into class time, including one about a bread-and-salt greeting at formal dinners—and another about the traditional Russian cocktail and appetizer hour, during which Russians sit at a table and share platters of meats, pickles and vodka. His stories number in the hundreds, students say, and come from his experience leading groups of all sorts—high school students, Fulbright scholars, college faculty members—across Russia and serving as a translator for Baskin-Robbins.
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