RUSS 150 A: Intensive First-Year Russian

Russian 150—Intensive First-Year Russian

Summer 2020 (June 22-August 21)

Time: M-F 8:30-11:50 am

ZOOM LINKS:

Grammar with Biljana (8:30-9:30 am):  https://washington.zoom.us/j/95702746829

Group 1 [A to Mitchell] with Veronica (9:40-11:50 am): https://washington.zoom.us/j/96980677103

Group 2 [Mroz to Z]  with Dr. Polack (9:40-11:50 am): https://washington.zoom.us/j/92317919699

N.B. 1  Dr. Zoya Polack and Ms. Veronica Muskheli will use their links both for classes (displayed next to their names above) and  for the Russian table on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Thursday's Russian Table will be conducted by Dr. Valentina Zaitseva, Meeting ID:  985 4217 6063, Zoom link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/98542176063

N.B. 2 While we do not anticipate any problems, connectivity is, of course, the basis of our interactions , and if, by any chance, there are problems with the Internet connections on the instructor's side, please stay put and patiently wait until the instructor reconnects with you. The instructors will repay the courtesy if you are having connectivity problems.

OVERVIEW

Russian 150 is equivalent to the first-year series of Russian 101, 102, and 103 and is worth 15 quarter credits. Students study contemporary Russian grammar and acquire conversational, reading, and writing skills. IMPORTANT: Because of the intensive nature of the course, students should expect to dedicate most of their time and energy to studying the language during the nine weeks of the course!

FORMAT

The Canvas-site administrated class meets every day over Zoom for three hours.

The hours are organized as three 1-hour sessions with 10-minute breaks between sessions (starting at 8:30, 9:40, and 10:50 am).

The first hour is focused on grammar and taught for the entire class. The second hour is focused primarily on oral skills, and the third hour is focused on writing skills; the second and third hours are taught in smaller groups.

Students submit homework assignments on a daily basis through Canvas.

Every Friday, students have a quiz, the written portion of which is submitted via Canvas either as a scanned document or as a downloaded Word document.

In addition, students have an opportunity to use their newly-acquired skills in oral practice sessions called Russian Table that meet at 1 pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday over Zoom. There, the students meet for informal talks with their fellow students and native Russian-speaking guests as well as enjoy enrichment activities, such as playing authentic Russian games and even cooking Russian dishes under the guidance of an online instructor.

CALENDAR

The Calendar can be found in the Files and Modules sections of the Canvas site. Each week has its own Module, within which there is that week’s detailed calendar and relevant texts. The detailed calendar for the following week’s Module appears there by the end of the day on Saturday. The calendar contains daily and homework assignments by referring to sections in the textbook and workbook and links for daily Zoom sessions. In addition, it contains information on the Russian Table schedule.

REQUIRED TEXTS

—the books are available at the UBookstore and online (may be cheaper online, but make sure you order the correct ISBN!)

1.     Troika: A Communicative Approach to Russian Language, Life, and Culture, 2nd ed. by Marita Nummikoski   ISBN: 978-0-470-64632-8

2.     Workbook Troika: A Communicative Approach to Russian Language, Life, and Culture, 2nd ed, by Marita                Nummikoski  ISBN-13: 978-0470646342 or ISBN-10: 0470646349

3.    Student Companion Site to your textbook and workbook is found at

   http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=index&bcsId=6426&itemId=0470646322

   Make sure that you are able to find Lab Audio Files that correspond to your Troika Workbook

4.     “Mezhdu nami”—a free web-based textbook https://mezhdunami.org/

RECOMMENDED TEXTS

Cruise, Edwina J. English Grammar for Learners of Russian, Olivia and Hill Press, 1993.

Gerhart, Genevra and Boyle, Eloise M. The Russian's World. 4th ed., Slavica Publishers, 2012

EVALUATION of STUDENTS’ WORK

 Students’ work is evaluated based on four major components: 1) lexical knowledge as evidenced by their vocabulary, 2) command of Russian grammar as evidenced by their written work; 3) oral skills as evidenced by their conversational fluency; and 4) cultural skills as evidenced by their appropriate use of different speech registers. These areas of proficiency are demonstrated by students in:

* their attendance and daily work in class (20% of the final grade):

Your attendance and daily work in class will be assessed at the end of each week, and your final score will be calculated on a scale from 0 to 5. 

* their homework (20% of the final grade)

Homework will be assigned for each class meeting, and you should be prepared to turn it in by 8:15 a.m. on the day for which it was assigned. Please submit all exercises on a separate sheet of paper. Be sure to write complete sentences and not just parts of them.

Homework will be assessed on a daily basis on a scale from 0 to 4.

* weekly tests (40% of the final grade)

Each Friday you will have a test starting at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 9:00 a.m. Please be sure to come to class on time so that you may use the full 30 minutes for the completion of the test.

Weekly tests will be assessed on a scale from 0 to 100.

*and the final written exam (10% of the final grade)

* the final oral exam (10% of the final grade)

Students’ written homework and tests are graded regularly and promptly returned to them with additional comments on their daily performance for feedback. Percentages and letter grading are used for the ultimate conversion to 4.0 scale according to the table below.

Grade Conversion Table