High School Russian 1

Russian 1 is the first step towards getting to understand something of this country and its culture and history. The textbook for the class, Beginner's Russian, gives an excellent, clear presentation of vocabulary and grammar using a communicative approach to speaking, listening, reading and writing. The text includes an interactive online workbook. The instructor will supplement the text with other materials to aid in pronunciation and listening skills. The course will emphasize actual use of the Russian language through conversation, listening to authentic speech, writing exercises, and cultural enrichment activities.

Russian 1 will cover roughly one half of this textbook, including the alphabet, pronunciation and orthography; personal and possessive pronouns; nominative, prepositional and accusative cases; adjectives and gender; present and past tense, including verbs of motion;

Communicative areas of proficiency will include greetings, discussing school and academics, expressing likes and dislikes, eating and drinking, and describing one's home and family including professions.

This class meets twice weekly. Classes are one hour in length. In addition to live class time, students are expected to complete approximately 2 hours of homework each week. Homework includes written, oral and reading assignments, as well as the practice of new vocabulary through interactive resources such as Quizlet and online workbook resources.