Course components:

• Introduction to written and spoken Russian
• Practicing Russian sounds and basic intonation patterns
• Learning to write block Cyrillic letters
• Everyday communication skills
• Categories of number and gender of Russian nouns.
• Pronouns (personal, possessive, interrogative, demonstrative)
• Verbs
• Subjugation of adjectives
• Grammar Cases (Nominative, Prepositional, Accusative)

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Greet people
• Become acquainted with somebody;
• Inquire and provide information about yourself, your partner, or a third party;
• Thank, respond to your opponent, express a desire;
• Name one’s profession and occupation;
• Inquire and inform about hobbies and interests;
• Buy food, drinks, clothes and souvenirs;
• Ask for and give an address or phone number;
• Offer to eat out; accept or refuse such an offer, explain the reason of refusal; agree on a meeting place and time; order food and drink; inquire or give information about favorite dishes; pay for the meal.
• Inquire and give information how to get somewhere; whether it is far or close; what the fare is.

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

• read and understand short simple texts from different sources (name of magazines and newspapers, billboards, road signs, notices etc.); as well as texts from adapted literature;
• write a short letter, greeting card, etc.
• summarize a text with the help of questions to guide you;
• understand the main information (theme, reference to place, time, cause etc.) in dialogues and monologues on everyday topics;
• initiate and maintain a dialogue about yourself, your friends, family, study, job, learning of foreign language, working day, free time, hometown, health or weather, and formulate your own statement based on the text you've read;
• speak about your future plans However, this level of competence in Russian as a foreign language is not enough to study at the Russian educational institutions.

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Read short texts from newspapers, magazines and books; understand the main content, important details, and the author's opinions;
• Write a (20-30-sentence) text about yourself, your family, your friends, your area of study, learning a foreign language, your day at work, free time, hometown, health or weather; (giving advice?) etc.
• Write a short summary of a text you read or heard on a given topic;
• Understand short dialogues and extract factual information (theme, time, relations, numbers, characteristics of an object, purposes, causes); understand long dialogues and express your own opinion on statements and actions of speakers, understand spoken announcements, news and other verbal information;
• Participate in dialogues spanning a wide range of everyday situations, initiate, maintain and end a dialogue; speak on personal topics (yourself, your job, profession, interests, country, city, culture etc.); formulate an opinion based on a text you've read;
• Use grammar and lexical skills to express your needs in everyday situations.

Your vocabulary should reach at least 2300-2500 words.

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Speak Russian fluently almost without grammar mistakes.
• Read descriptive or narrative texts or journal articles; understand the author’s position;
• Write a plan, thesis, or synopsis based on a text you've read or heard; write a personal or business letter; write official texts (such as applications or requests);
• Understand everyday dialogues, films and TV programs, ads or radio news
• Maintain or initiate a dialogue; speak about what you've seen and express your own point of view;
• Use grammatical skills to form proper complex sentences

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Understand and adequately interpret difficult texts (containing mostly familiar information), official texts (legal acts and official statements), and non-adopted Russian literature;
• Write a synopsis, summary, formal/personal letter, or paper on a problematic issue based on a text you have read or heard;
• Listen to the radio, TV programs, movies, public speeches, etc., understand the main ideas, details, and speaker’s point of view;
• Maintain a dialogue to achieve different goals, for example: resolve a conflict, present an argument on moral issues, defend your opinion in a casual setting.

Your vocabulary should reach at least 12,000 words, 7,000 of them in active vocabulary.

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Understand and adequately interpret original texts from all subject areas: abstract philosophical, professionally-related, journalistic and literary texts having a hidden or a conceptual meaning;
• Write own texts reflecting personal views on the subject matter;
• Fully understand radio and TV programs, extracts from films, plays, recorded public speeches etc., (perceive cultural and emotional peculiarities of the speaker's manner in an adequate way and )interpret popular quotations and hidden meanings;
• Achieve any communication goals in a prepared or spontaneous dialogue.

Your vocabulary should reach at least 20 000 words, 8 000 of them in active vocabulary.