Dr Olga Sobolev PEL 6.01a and Mrs Irina Forbes

Available as an outside option to all undergraduate and General Course students. Students can take this course in any year of their studies following approval from the teacher responsible and subject to their own programme regulations.

No previous knowledge of Russian is required; students with limited prior knowledge may be considered for the course subject to an interview with the course co-ordinator.

Beginners to higher intermediate study of the Russian language within the framework of social sciences and culture. In a dynamic and communicative way the course develops all four language skills (i.e. speaking, listening, reading and writing) through individual and group work, topical discussions, authentic and web-based multi-media materials. The focus is on accuracy as well as communication that advance students’ language competence, transferable skills and cultural awareness.

60 hours of classes in the MT. 60 hours of classes in the LT. 6 hours of classes in the ST.

Six hours per week, which will feature: (a) interactive topic work; (b) oral classes; (c) grammar classes; (d) tutorials; and (e) guided study using Language Showroom, IT and web-based materials. Students should note that the timetable will be held extremely flexible to accommodate students from all departments. Please contact the teacher responsible if you would like to follow this language course. Structured activities during the reading week.

This course has reading weeks in week 6 of Michaelmas and Lent terms.

Students will be required to complete weekly language exercises.

Svetlana Le Fleming and Susan Kay, Colloquial Russian, Routledge, 2017; LSE Study Pack.

Exam (30%, duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes) in the summer exam period.
Oral examination (30%) in the ST.
Continuous assessment (40%) in the MT and LT.

Language courses map to the Common European Framework for Language Learning.  This framework defines linguistic proficiency in the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) at different levels.  To pass this course, students are therefore required to achieve a pass mark in each element of the assessment (continuous assessment, oral and written exams), as these test all four skills.

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.