Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies.
Description
Russian for Beginners is a Russian language course for students with no knowledge of the language. The course will provide students with the basics of Russian and aims to develop language skills in grammar, speaking, listening, reading and writing. An important aspect of the course will be the cultural knowledge about Russia. The course provides the knowledge to communicate and understand Russian at A1 level.
Course objectives
This course enables the student to achieve a good level A1 of the Common European Frame (CEF).
This course is the first course in a series of three language acquisition courses within the International Studies program. The final objective of this course series is to obtain an intermediate level of proficiency in Russian, aimed at communication with people in the region in everyday social situations and enabling students to follow current affairs in the region via various media.
The required competences for an A1 level language can be described as follows: the student can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.
Visual reception (reading): A1
Written production (writing): A1
Listening(Audio): A1
Oral productions (speaking): A1
Timetable
The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website.
Mode of instruction
Three two-hour tutorials every week, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Attending all tutorial sessions is compulsory. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform your tutor in advance, providing a valid reason for your absence. Being absent will result in a lowering of the participation grade with 0.5 for every absence after the first three (3) times.
Course Load
Total course load for this course is 10 EC (1 EC = 28 hours), this equals 280 hours, broken down by:
Attending classes: (6 hours per week over 12 weeks) 72 hours
Preparing classes, exams and extra activities : 202 hours
Assessment hours (exams and other assessment): 6 hours
Assessment method
Assessment
Alphabet test: reading & writing - block 3
Listening exam - block 3
Midterm exam: reading & vocabulary & writing; in-class exam - block 3
Oral exam: presentation & oral test - block 4
Listening exam - block 4
Final exam: reading & vocabulary & writin; in-class exam - block 4
Participation: online grammar tests, quiz, homework etc. - blocks 3 and 4
Weighing
| Partial Grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Alphabet Test | 10% |
| Listening Exam | 10% |
| Midterm Exam | 10% |
| Oral Exam | 20% |
| Listening Exam | 10% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
| Participation | 20% |
End grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note that the end grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of the in-class oral and listening performance and exams.
Resit
If the end grade is insufficient (lower than a 6), there is a possibility of retaking the full 80% of the exam material (reading, writing, speaking and listening). No resit for the tutorial (participation) is possible.
Retaking a passing grade
Please consult the Course and Examination Regulations 2017 – 2018.
Exam review
How and when an exam review takes place will be determined by the examiner. This review will be within 30 days after official publication of exam results.
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used for tutorial groups. Students are requested to enroll on Blackboard for this course, but only after correct enrolment in uSis.
Reading list
Compulsory books:
Ruslan 1 Book with CD, Ruslan Limited, ISBN 9781899785834
Ruslan 1 Workbook with free CD, Ruslan Limited, ISBN 9781899785223
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis can be found here.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable.
Contact
When contacting lecturers or tutors, please include your full name, student number and tutorial group number.
Remarks
Passing this course is an additional requirement for a positive Study Recommendation at the end of the year.
This course uses Integrated communicative language learning method. Therefore active participation in the classroom activities is essential for successful learning outcomes.