Our Russian studies programs are aimed at achieving practical fluency and confidence in the use of the Russian language with the focus on the integration of all the four language learning components and skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) and the emphasis on communication. We believe that the individual communicative approach and complete language and cultural immersion that we apply in our school are the most effective methods of language learning. The objective of the course is for students to acquire elementary/pre-intermediate/intermediate/advanced proficiency in spoken and written Russian, focusing particularly on grammatical accuracy and oral communication in practical settings.
The Russian Course outline:
development of proper pronunciation and intonation habits,
acquiring communicative speech skills and development of the student's oral comprehension,
systematical study of essential Russian grammar, lexical and grammar phrase formation, use of proper sentence structure,
vocabulary expansion, vocabulary being introduced gradually and systematically,
accumulation of the cultural country knowledge with the aim of understanding social background,
reading and comprehension of the Russian fiction texts and periodicals.
building-up writing skills.
Russia has always been a strange and fascinating place, with its mixture of globe-shaking politics and world-class culture. Our goal in Russian Studies is to prepare our students to observe and understand Russia, past and present. People from their teens to their nineties from all walks of life immerse themselves in the language and culture of Russia through extensive daily instruction, tutoring by well-educated teachers who are Russian native speakers trained to teach foreigners, and the dynamic cultural life of the school.
Volunteer teachers attend 3 Russian classes per day, except excursion days. 40-minute Russian classes are scheduled from 4:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., in groups according to the teachers’ levels of Russian. International students have 5 lessons of Russian per day, except excursion days, from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. The students are assigned into groups according to their level of Russian. We know how important it is to use a language that one is learning. That is why we limit our class size to no more than five students, in order to maximize student participation. If there are no other students of your level of Russian you will have a private language tutor.
In the afternoon international students have a choice of attending a Creativity Workshop which is related to the Russian culture and involves some creative activity (dancing, singing, acting, drawing, arts and crafts, poetry, etc.) or participating in the "live and learn" intercultural conversational sessions, which take place outside of the classroom. These sessions are designed so that students must use the Russian that they have been learning in class, but in real-life situations. With the assistance of their teacher or the program coordinator, students carry out everyday tasks in Russian, such as shopping, going to the bank, buying stamps to mail a postcard, asking for directions, and asking for specific information, etc. This is a unique opportunity for students to build their confidence in the language and gain insights into the society. This part of the program is very intensive, effective, and fun.
