Student- Interview: Peter Svaetichin

Peter is a Swedish student who started his journey learning Russian 7 years ago, he’s now at Liden & Denz for 2 months to improve his language and vocabulary. His love for languages started when he was in the hotel industry. His education is very advanced because he has studied abroad in Switzerland, America, Germany and even did an MBA in France. He enjoyed the hotel business but got a better opportunity to work in a drinks company. His first challenge in this field led to him starting his Russian language journey; setting up a European market for Siberian vodka.

How did you start learning Russian?

It all started with the distribution of drinks to Russia and the opening of a Georgian Restaurant in Paris. With my connections in the hotel business and the restaurant, I started a wine project producing Georgian wine. 7 years ago, out of necessity, I started to learn Russian because I was living in Georgia. When I first went over there the majority of people spoke Russian but that changed after about two years, when a lot of people rejected the Russian language in favour of improving their English language. But this shifted again in the last three years, so a lot of people now speak Russian again and are proud of their heritage.

What do you think of Russia and especially Saint Petersburg?

I am in love with this city, it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to. If someone visits Saint Petersburg, they need to stay for a lot of time here, because there is a lot to see. I’ve been to Moscow too, but the city is more focused on work, like New York City; it doesn’t have as many layers to it. If your goal is to learn Russian it’s an advantage to learn it in a country where it is spoken, because through the surroundings you suck in so much more. It is important to get as much out of the stay in the country as possible and to stay as long as possible so you have enough time to really engage with the city and enjoy the language.

Learning Russian at Liden & Denz

So as a Swedish guy in Georgia it’s pretty certain that nobody will understand Swedish. Also in the wine industry it’s even hard to find people that speak English. So it’s an advantage to learn or speak Russian. Seven years ago my journey of learning Russian started. It has not been constant but now for the next 2 months it will my focus to improve my language skills as much as possible. There’s not a lot I can say about Liden & Denz right now because I’ve only been here for 2 weeks – but on first impressions everything looks good to me!

I’m really looking forward to my time here in Saint Petersburg and improving my Russian skills at Liden & Denz!

Posted by Russian Courses