Russian Group Classes

3 Basic levels

Classes meet once per week for 2.5 hours

Small class size (max. 9 students)

Experienced, native-speaking teachers

Four 10-week terms per year

Affordable tuition

Conveniently located at Dupont Circle

The Russian Language Program at ILI consists of four 10-week terms throughout the year. We are offering three different Basic levels. Classes meet at the Institute once a week in the evening. Our teachers are all native-speaking and experienced. The Russian Language Program integrates speaking, listening, reading and writing. We maintain small class sizes to enable adequate time for conversation in every class. To find your level, please refer to the level description or use our self-evaluation guide. If you have further questions, please call Francisco Todd, ILI's Foreign Language Coordinator, at 202-686-5610 ext. 105.

Level Description

Basic 1: The emphasis of this introductory class is on pronunciation, vocabulary building, basic grammar, and basic conversation. This course is for those students with little or no ability in the language. Introduction to basic listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course. Dialogues, readings, and cultural notes will be introduced in class, in what life is like in Russia today. Previous Russian not required.

Objective:	To introduce Russian to students who never took the language at school or had Russian in their lives at all. This course aims to provide beginning students with a practical basic command of the language.
Learning Outcome:	At the end of this course, students will be able to engage in basic conversations about most common everyday situations and write simple notes and phrases. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to conduct basic conversations and write simple paragraphs about everyday topics.
Topics:	Introduction of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, pronunciation, transliteration, regular and irregular verbs in the present tense, gender, personal pronouns, prepositional case, indeclinable nouns, possession, the accusative case, masculine/feminine/neuter adjectives, plurals, the genitive case, numbers, quantities, roubles and dollars and genitive pronouns and adjectives.
Textbook:	Golosa 1: Textbook, 4th Ed. with Audio Pkg combo, $119 incl. tax Golosa 1: Workbook/Lab Manual, 4th Ed., $47 incl. tax
Lessons:	Introduction to the Russian alphabet and chapters 1-5. Supplementary material provided by the teacher.

Basic 1: Tuesdays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm

Basic 2: This course is the continuation of the Basic 1 level and for students who have taken formal instruction a while ago, or have previous informal exposure to the language. Building of the basic foundation provided in the introductory level, students will learn to introduce themselves and conduct simple conversations on a range of everyday subjects. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course.

Objective:	Upon completing this level, students will be able to converse comfortably on most everyday routine situations speaking in the present, future and past tenses. They will be able to say or express their ideas, sentences and desires easily at a basic beginner’s level. They will learn enough vocabulary to continue with Russian Basic 3.
Learning Outcome:	Upon completing this level, students will be able to converse comfortably on most everyday routine situations speaking in the present, future and past tenses. They will be able to say or express their ideas, sentences and desires easily at a basic beginner’s level. They will learn enough vocabulary to continue with Russian Basic 3.
Topics:	Future, past and conditional verb tenses, reflexive verbs, the dative case, imperfective and perfective, prepositional Plural, the infinitive, reported speech, impersonal constructions, the instrumental case, declension of surnames, time, date, age, ordinal numbers, superlative & relative clauses, obligation prefixes, and verbs of motion. Listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills will continue to be addressed throughout the course.
Textbook:	Golosa 1: Textbook, 4th Ed. with Audio Pkg combo, $119 incl. tax Golosa 1: Workbook/Lab Manual, 4th Ed., $47incl. tax
Lessons:	Chapters 6-10. Supplementary material will be provided by the teacher.

Basic 2: Wednesdays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm

Basic 3: This course is ideal for those who studied Russian a while ago and need a refresher. At this level students will continue to build upon the foundation of the language that they acquired in Basic 2. Students will continue to improve on their listening and speaking skills through structured dialogues and other practical activities. This level continues to build up necessary grammar skills that will enable students to understand, read, write and translate sentences and paragraphs. This course is well-suited for students that have completed at least one semester of college-level Russian or the equivalent at a language institute. Students will learn to easily use the more complex verb tenses, along with more complex vocabulary and grammar. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will continue to be addressed throughout the course.

Objective:	Continuing to build upon the previously learned skills, students will acquire additional vocabulary which will enable them to converse in more complex conversations about their Russian history, culture, art, and familiar relationships. Students will learn grammar in a clear and concise format while being introduced to contemporary life and culture in today’s Russia.
Learning Outcome:	By the end of this course, students will be able to have a basic conversation based on daily routine activities. They will be able to say or express their ideas with a full command of adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases. They will be able to understand and be understood in most major tenses with some combinations of imperative and conditional as well as the passive voice. The average student will have acquired an active vocabulary of approximately 1,200 words together with many more words in speech and writing. The student is ready for intermediate level courses.
Topics:	Review of the more complex verb tenses, possession and purpose, declension of numbers, collective numerals, fractions, time expressions, negations, diminutives, proper names, politeness, indefinite pronouns, word order, writing letters, participles, verbal adverbs, “bookish” style, punctuation, short-term adjectives, abbreviations, names of Russian letters, and particles. Listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills will continue to be addressed throughout the course.
Textbook:	Golosa 2: Textbook, 4th Ed, $93 incl. tax Golosa 2: Workbook/Lab Manual, $47 incl. tax Golosa 2: Audio Program Pkg, $34 incl. tax
Lessons:	Chapters 1-5. Supplementary material will be provided by the teacher.

Basic 3: Thursdays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm

Basic 4: At this level students will continue to build upon the skills of the language that they acquired in Basic 3. Students will continue to improve on their listening and speaking skills through structured dialogues and other practical activities. This level continues to build up necessary grammar skills as well as the expansion of cultural knowledge. This course is well-suited for students that have completed at least two semesters of college-level Russian or the equivalent at a language institute. This course provides comprehensive explanations of Russian grammar along with the structural practice students need to build accuracy. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will continue to be addressed throughout the course.

Objective:	Continuing to build upon the previously learned skills, students will acquire additional vocabulary which will enable them to converse in more complex conversations about their Russian history, culture, art, and familiar relationships. Students will learn grammar in a clear and concise format while being introduced to contemporary life and culture in today’s Russia.
Learning Outcome:	By the end of this course, students will have acquired a solid foundation of the Russian language. They will be able to say or express their ideas with a full command of adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases. The students will be able to express immediate needs and interests using complete sentences, and discuss likes and dislikes in literature and the arts. The average student will have acquired an active vocabulary of well over 1,200 words together with many more words in speech and writing. The student is now at a low intermediate level.
Topics:	Review of the more complex verb tenses, such as the third person-plural for passive/impersonal meaning, declension of last names, instrumental cases, speaking in generalities, verbs of asking, structures of holidays greetings, invitations and toasts, review of verbal adjectives and adverbs. Listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills will continue to be addressed throughout the course.
Textbook:	Golosa 2: Textbook, 4th Ed, $93 incl. tax Golosa 2: Workbook/Lab Manual, $47 incl. tax Golosa 2: Audio Program Pkg, $34 incl. tax
Lessons:	Chapters 6-10. Lab Manual and Workbook exercises will be determined by teacher.

Basic 4: Wednesdays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm

Program Details

2008 Schedule:

Winter Term	Jan. 14 - Mar. 22, 2008	Deadline: Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Spring Term	Apr. 7 - June 14, 2008	Deadline: Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Summer Term	Jul. 7 - Sept. 13, 2008	Deadline: Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Fall Term	Sept. 29 - Dec. 6, 2008	Deadline: Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Tuition: $320 for one level. Please click here to apply on-line.

Duration: Classes meet once weekly in the evening or on Saturday mornings for 10 weeks. Each session is 2.5 hours.

Refunds: No refunds are issued once classes have started.

Textbooks: May be purchased at the time of registration or at the Institute before or on the first day of class.

Inclement Weather: Classes are cancelled in accordance with federal government closings (not school closings!) due to inclement weather. Please check public announcements on radio, TV and the Web; or call ILI at (202) 362-2505.

Cancellation/Substitution: The International Language Institute reserves the right to cancel any class if deemed necessary. Prior to commencement of class, students will be given a full refund. In the event of cancellation after the commencement of class, the pro-rata portion of the unexpended tuition will be refunded within $5. The pro-rated amount of refundable monies will be determined by the ratio of classes completed to the total number of classes in the scheduled program. The International Language Institute reserves the right to assign substitute instructors whenever necessary.

Location: See address below.

Questions? Please call Francisco Todd, Foreign Language Coordinator of ILI, at 202-686-5610 extension 105.