Dr Olga Sobolev PEL 6.01a, Mrs Irina Forbes and Mrs Natalia Bershadski

This course is available on the MA in Modern History. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available with permission to General Course students.

Students can take this course in any year of their studies following approval from the teacher responsible.

Priority will be given to Language Centre BSc students and students from other Departments following a Language Specialism.

Completion of the Russian Language and Society 2 (Intermediate) course (LN102); or a good pass at A Level or its equivalent is required. An interview with the course co-ordinator prior to registration is compulsory.

Advanced 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.

40 hours of classes in the AT. 40 hours of classes in the WT. 4 hours of classes in the ST.

Four hours per week, which will feature: (a) interactive topical work; (b) oral practice; (c) grammar and vocabulary work; (d) tutorials; and (e) guided study using IT and web-based materials. 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.

Colloquial Russian 2, by Olga Sobolev, Natasha Bershadski et al, Routledge, 2018;

Additional: Russian media sources on the web; Terence Wade, A Comprehensive Russian Grammar (Blackwell, 2010); Jeffrey Brooks, The Firebird and the Fox: Russian Culture under Tsars and Bolsheviks (Cambridge University Press, 2019); Geoffrey Hosking: Russian History: A Very Short Introduction, (Oxford University Press, 2012).

Exam (30%, duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes) in the spring exam period.
Oral examination (30%) in the ST.
Continuous assessment (40%) in the AT and WT.

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.