The American Councils Business Russian Language and Internship (BRLI) Program combines a specially designed curriculum focusing on the language of Russian business with an internship averaging ten to fifteen hours per week at a multinational company, business, or non-governmental organization agency in Russia. Moscow International University and the Russian State Pedagogical (Gertsen) University in St. Petersburg host this program; students may apply to study for a semester, academic year, or summer. BRLI participants are granted U.S. academic credit through Bryn Mawr College. The highly individualized BRLI curriculum can be tailored to serve students ranging from intermediate to near native speakers of Russian; however, less advanced students should consider whether their language proficiency will enable them to engage in substantive internships and benefit from instruction in the style and lexicon of business speech. (Students lacking a strong command of Russian grammar, for example, should consider enrolling in RLASP before applying to the BRLI program.) A full-time U.S. resident director provides ongoing logistical support and emergency assistance to participants. Students may choose to live in university dormitories or with host families screened and selected by American Councils staff. Peer tutoring, Russian-American discussion clubs, and a broad range of extra-curricular activities provide unique opportunities for BRLI students to connect with Russian friends and immerse themselves in daily Russian life.
American Councils has administered intensive language-immersion programs for U.S. undergraduates, graduate students, teachers, and scholars at universities and specialized institutions in Russia and Eurasia since 1976. More than 5,000 students, teachers, and scholars from universities and colleges throughout the U.S. have participated in American Councils programs for research and language study in Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the South Caucasus, Moldova, Belarus, and Southeast Europe. Today American Councils employs more than 300 expatriates and host-country nationals in thirty-four offices throughout Russia, Eurasia, and Southeast Europe.