Liden & Denz Intercultural Institute of Languages — Local services in Литейный округ

I studied 3 months (April till June 2017) at Liden and Denz in St. Petersburg and left the school with very mixed feelings. On one hand, the majority of my teachers (Garold and Lilia) were very competent, structured and friendly and I made a lot of progress in their lessons. The other two teachers, which I fortunately didn’t have for more than one week each, were either not respectful or just absolutely unstructured and unproductive. In my last week for instance, I was taught in an “A2+ class”, which turned out to be on the level of A1 and I learned absolutely nothing, because the lessons were unstructured and the students levels very different.

The thing that disappointed me the most in this school, however, was their director of studies and how they generally handle problems of students (with exception of the friendly staff at the reception). A friend and I were several weeks in a class together when suddenly on a Monday, our teacher taught another class and it turned out we were moved to a different class without any communication with us. On top of that, the new class was on a lower level than before. After the second day we spoke to the director of Studies Nadja to move to a different class. Nadja didn’t want to take her time to speak to us, shouted at us and was completely respectless. She then wanted us to make our complaint in Russian to “prove” that our level in Russian is high enough for A2. Her tactic was to frighten the students and make them feel stupid in order to not have to address the issue. This has not only happened to us but also to other students who were in the same situation. After my friend’s parents wrote a mail to Lidenz, we could eventually move to a new class the following week.

Another experience was, when I was learning with some other students in the school and we then were asked to leave since they were having a party to celebrate the 25year anniversary of the school. Obviously, they only invited “important people” to the party such as agents who recommend the school. After asking them why no students were included in the celebration, they replied that there were going to be other parties and a picknick for the students. All of these promises then never happened.

I never took part in an excursion because they seem to be overpriced and don’t include basic things like museum entrance fees or transport tickets, so it’s better to just go with friends. It’s also not a good idea to book the flat over the school since these are a rip-off. It’s better to find something through friends or possibly on airbnb.

All in all, the school is not well organized and not customer-friendly. Being that all agencies in Switzerland recommended the school and the owner is Swiss, I was utterly disappointed.

EDIT: I posted the same review on facebook, but Lidenz took it down because they can't deal with criticism. So here is my response to Lidenz' comment:

"First of all, you didn’t show the possibility of making a new class right from the beginning of the discussion but tried everything to make us stay in the current class in a very disrespectful way. It wasn't you who came up with the idea of making a new class in the afternoon, but my friend Martin Melber. Without his idea, we would have had to stay in this class for another month. Concerning the 25-year celebration, you wrote that a student party and also a picknick were going to be in the end of June. Then nothing happened. Now you are saying it would be in the end of July. Your answer shows that you can’t deal with criticism and are not costumer oriented. Furthermore you make promises, which you...

I spent three months studying at Lidenz at the end of 2019. Before coming I was just wishing to spend some time in Russia and to try to get some language skills at the same time. Well, Lidenz blew all my expectations out of the water. The location of the school is excellent. It's one block down from Nevsky and is close to everything. The school is super modern and everything is in top condition. There were also a bunch of different activities organized by the school for students who wanted to participate, for example Borsch cooking, excursions and of course the Christmas party! And last but not least the quality of the teachers and education in general was incredible. I could really tell that the teachers were actually motivated and interested in teaching us the language. There was a big focus on actually communicating in Russian and practically using it from day one, which meant that progress was very quick and also motivating. The education was also supplemented by the schools own course books and various types of media which it very dynamic and not stale at all. When I first arrived in Russia I spoke about 3 words of Russian. After my first month I remember talking to a man from Uzbekistan in the metro, and actually holding a conversation (a limited one of course) with him in Russian. And at the end of my three months I was holding real proper conversations with Russians in Russian. It was incredible. I'd go back to Lidenz in a heartbeat and I recommend everybody who's interested in learning Russian in Russia to chose...

I’ve spent two months (October-December) in Saint Petersburg learning Russian at Liden&Denz. Even though a pandemic was going on, my stay in Russia was wonderful. The school had safety measures in place and I never felt that my health was at risk. I was able to have the work-study experience, which means that I spent 4h a day in class and in the afternoon, I created videos for the schools YouTube channel. Liden&Denz moved into a new campus not long ago and it’s truly perfect. Located almost in the heart of Saint Petersburg, there are many restaurants and activities nearby. The school is situated in an impressive old building. Classrooms are bright and welcoming, there’s a bar which offers snacks and drinks. There are study areas and chill areas. Despite not having many students due to Covid, I still had a great time with the few students there were. Our teacher made sure that we all understood what we were learning, but also made sure that no one was sleeping in class. Liden&Denz has their own teaching materials and books, which really help with learning this complex language. The work experience was great as well! I worked as content creator, producing YouTube videos most of the time. It was always fun and a good experience working with Sasha and the other teachers at school. Thank you for the great memories and experience! I’m looking forward to visiting Saint...