Knowing a foreign language is of crucial importance in ensuring the effectiveness of an education abroad. Essentially, the practice of teaching and mastering a foreign language serves as a means of intercultural communication, a conduit of interaction in a new sociocultural environment, and a mediator through which to assimilate new norms and models of behavior. One's assimilation of the cultural traditions and mastery of social norms and rules, as well as models of behavior in the country where one is staying, all come about first and foremost through mastery of the language of that nation. All stages of learning (preliminary acquaintance with the foreign language and the culture of the nation while in Russia, the initial practice of interacting in a foreign language, an individual's adjustment to a new environment, long-term immersion in the foreign cultural context, and a thorough mastery of conversational and other forms of the foreign language) are all aspects that essentially demonstrate the sequential processes of the exploration and assimilation (or rejection) of the sociocultural norms and stereotypes of the Western world. The stages of the study and mastery of a foreign language by those getting an education abroad dictate the logic of this analysis. Studies have shown that as a result of communicating with native speakers of a language, right there in their own cultural environment, the mastery of a foreign language takes place more effectively. The experience that is gained just by virtue of being in a foreign country, in combination with the mastery of a foreign language, becomes an element of human capital that can be invested successfully in one's work and professional career. Interviews with Russian students, presented in this article, demonstrate the effectiveness of varying experiences in developing practical skills in a foreign language. (Contains 1 note.)