Dr Olga Sobolev PEL 6.01a and Mrs Natalia Bershadski

For all students who aim to reach functional level of proficiency in Russian.

Language skills and knowledge of Russian at the A1 level of the Common European Reference Framework for Languages; 100 hours of language learning (including self-study).

All students must gain permission of the tutor in the Needs Analysis Interview to take this course.

Course Aim:

• To bring students’ knowledge of written and spoken Russian up to low intermediate level, corresponding to level A2 of CEFR. Students will be ready to take exams (at the end of the Lent Term) and obtain the International TORFL Certificate (Test of Russian as a Foreign Language).
• To develop an ability to communicate effectively in Russian (using high-frequency vocabulary and structures) in everyday work and social situations.
• To improve pronunciation and sentence intonation.
• To improve basic knowledge of grammatical gender, word-formation and word-order.
• To deal with a range of predictable simple language tasks using a limited range of language to meet the needs of differing but familiar situations and topics.
• To establish linguistic skills and attitudes required for promoting and facilitating further study of Russian.

Communicative Content: The course is focused on the following aspects:

• Thorough revision of the basic linguistic structures;
• Exchanging personal information and discussing the most common aspects of culture and current issues in Russia (e.g. education, mass media, festivals);
• Interpreting documents and data, containing a range of topical facts and figures of a country/place;
• Expressing preferences, intentions and opinions; giving advice and proposing alternatives;
• Making comparisons;
• Giving descriptions of people (including character), objects, places, weather & journeys;
• Demonstrating awareness and ability to use formal and informal registers in a limited social context;handling a variety of everyday situations on an adequate linguistic level (relevant high-frequency vocabulary and structures).

Structural Content: The course covers basic vocabulary required for communicative functions and focuses on the following linguistic structures (the language command in these areas is expected to be appropriate to the level and task with differentiation of recognition and active usage): 

• Nouns, adjectives, personal & possessive pronouns in singular and plural in all cases;
• Demonstrative pronouns in all cases;
• Short adjectives; comparative adjectives & basic superlatives;
• Conjugation of verbs in all tenses; verbs of motion and prefixed verbs of motion;
• Introduction to aspects;
• Conjugation cardinal & ordinal numerals;
• Expressions of time and date;
• Expressions of purpose;
• Introduction to subjunctive mood.

16 hours of classes in the MT. 22 hours of classes in the LT. 2 hours of classes in the ST.

This is a 40 hour-course. Please refer to the LSE timetable for course teaching arrangements.

• Course Book -  Svetlana Le Fleming & Susan Kay, Colloquial Russian, London: Routledge, 2017 (chapters 8-18); ISBN-13: 978-1138208520
• Optional - N. Bitekhina et al, Living Russian Grammar, Moscow: CREF, 2003, ISBN-13: 978-0954433307

Continuous assessment (70%) in the MT and LT.
Oral examination (30%) in the LT.

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