I was born and raised in Kharkov, the second largest city in Ukraine. In 1993 I received a B.A. degree in English and French from Kharkov National University, and in 1994 I went to the University of Cincinnati Graduate School where I received a Master’s degree in TESOL in 1997.

I received my Doctorate degree in Foreign Language Instruction (Russian) from Stony Brook University in 2005. My professional interests include methodology of teaching Russian to heritage learners, second language acquisition, theory of translation, Russian linguistics. At Stony Brook University I teach Elementary and Intermediate Russian, Russian for Heritage Speakers, Advanced Russian Conversation and Composition, and several online courses: Contemporary Russian Literacy, Professional Russian Online, and Russian Readings Online.