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Russian Language School in Moscow:
Program and Courses.
We offer a wide range of Russian courses
of various duration and intensity up to 8 levels.
Standard Group |
Intensive Group |
Academic Year
One-to-One |
One-to-One (total immersion)
Exam Preparation |
Russian on the River
OUR METHODS OF TEACHING RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Program's Method
All our courses are based on communicative approaches and combine learning common expressions used in everyday situations with thorough and systematic grammatical approach. This is of vital importance for learning a language like Russian, which has an inflectional system and a non-fixed word order – a language in which word endings or word's place create the meaning.
Conversational topics are given with appropriate grammar structures, while the grammar part of the course proceeds gradually from simple "basic concepts" to more complex issues in a psychologically proven order (e.g. naming objects - describing locations - actions with objects - moving to and from, etc.). One of our most important principles consists in giving our students the linguistic means to express themselves in everyday situations by constant training of communicative skills and models, which allows learners to reach their own communicative objectives.
Student's Placement
A student's level is determined through placement testing. The placement test is made up of a writing sample and oral interview. If a student feels he or she has been placed incorrectly, the placement decision may be reviewed by the Centre.
Russian Language Course Components
- GRAMMAR . This is the basic course which is organized so that students' practice with the language is paramount. The texts we normally use are filled with exercises (tasks) that get students to use various structures in realistic situations.
- CONVERSATION. The focus of Conversation is building fluency. In this class, students have an opportunity to talk about a variety of subjects relevant to their goals and interests, and learn a great deal of vocabulary while doing so.
- READING & WRITING.
Selected materials are chosen to ensure that the students can enrich their language level with such an important reading skills, as skimming, scanning, identifying the main idea of the text, so that in general it will take a student to the proficiency in writing communication.
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Standard Group Courses
Communicative teaching in small groups (maximum 10 participants per group) makes this course a pleasurable and productive experience. Our Standard Group Course gives participants the chance to talk and to play different roles, and to learn communicative skills in "real life" situations. This course of twenty weekly lessons is offered on a continuous basis year round with intake every second week and follows a modular pattern of two-week units.
For participants of four weeks or longer, following modules build upon the grammar basics of the first module, treating the same grammar topics from a different angle with more in-depth explanations, more complex vocabulary, different exercises and more dialogues and role-play in class.
The groups are formed according to an assessment test, which is compulsory for every participant. Standard Group Courses are available for all the first six levels year-round. Beginners may start on the dates indicated (*) and are advised to be familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet.
Each course starts on a Monday and ends on a Friday. The minimum course length is two weeks. The maximum course length is open.
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Intensive Group Course (Language Plus)
Our Intensive Group Course comprises 25 lessons per week in groups with maximum ten participants. The morning lessons (20) are taken together with the students, which have booked our Standard Group Course. The afternoon supplement (5 lessons on two days – usually Tuesday and Thursday) will be offered in three different levels:
- A1 - Beginner
- A1+/A2 – Elementary
- B1 – Intermediate
- B2 – Upper-intermediate
The content of this afternoon supplement focuses on subjects of general interest like Business and Economy, Russian Mass Media Today; Culture, History and Literature.
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Academic Year Programme
Academic Year Courses are moderately priced long-term group courses, either with 25 or 20 lessons per week. The Academic Year Course with 25 lessons per week has the same structure as our Intensive Group Course with 20 standard lessons per week and a supplement of 5 weekly lessons designated for subjects of general interest. The Academic Year Course with 20 weekly lessons (identical in content with our Standard Group Course) is only offered in St.Petersburg.
Please note that there are restricted course start dates (see below) and fixed course lengths of 24, 36 or 48 weeks. Beginners are advised to be familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet.
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One-to-One Course
The teacher and the student jointly determine the exact content of a professional One-to-One course. The student is invited to specify his/her fields of interests by completing our need analysis (available on request), which allows us to pre-select material, establish a study-plan and prepare a specific vocabulary.
One-to-one courses are available in varying degrees of intensity: 15, 20, 30 or 40 lessons per week. For 30 lessons or more the student is taught by a team of two teachers.
These courses can be booked throughout the year. The minimum course length is one week with each course starting on a Monday and ending on a Friday. On agreement, lessons can also be held on weekends.
Participants may also book additonal 5-lesson-modules as a supplement to any One-to-one or Group Course.
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One-to-One Course (Total Immersion)
Total Immersion Courses are One-to-one Courses with 20 weekly lessons run outside the school. The lessons are given by one of our teachers who sees the student where he lives, typically at his host family.
Course types, rates and dates are identical to those of our One-to-one courses taken at the school.
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Exam Preparation Course (TRKI)
Language School in Moscow is an official preparation and testing centre for the TRKI state exam (Test of Russian as a Foreign Language). The exam measures students' linguistic ability for university studies in Russian, either in Russia or their home country. The TRKI is recognized by the Russian Federal Ministry of Education and can be taken at our St.Petersburg centre. Liden & Denz in Moscow will be also accredited soon as a TRKI testing centre. A TRKI exam can be taken every week of the year. Exam costs are between EUR 47 and EUR 75 (see fees below) and should be paid to school.
Currently the Russian testing system for speakers of Russian as a Foreign language consists of beginner and elementary levels as well as four levels of competency in Russian as a Foreign Language and corresponding tests. The most common are:
Elementary Level TBU: certifies that the applicant has acquired basic communicative skills in a number of daily situations. With no Russian skills to start with, it takes on average a 16 week group course and one TRKI exam module to pass this exam. Exam fee: € 47.
TRKI-1: certifies that the applicant has reached Intermediate Level of communicative skills on a variety of social, cultural and professional topics. TRKI-1 allows enrolling in a Russian University. With no Russian skills to start with, it takes on average a 24 week group course and one, maybe two TRKI exam modules to pass this exam. Exam fee: € 55.
TRKI-2: certifies a relatively high level (upper Intermediate) of communicative competency in all communicative contexts. The certificate involved is required for obtaining Bachelor's and Master's degrees on graduation from Russian higher educational institutions. It takes 400 lessons or 20 weeks in a group course to pass from TRKI-1 to TRKI-2. One or two TRKI exam modules are required to pass this exam. Exam fee: € 65.
TBU and TRKI tests are State exams which can be taken at our centre in St.Petersburg year round. Each exam normally takes 2 days and consists of 5 subtests (components).
Why prepare TRKI at our school?
- Comparing with state educational institutions, our groups are small. It is also possible to apply for an individual course, which allows concentrating on the needs of a particular student.
- Our students consistently show high pass rates.
- TRKI preparation courses are planned accordingly to the new official testing standards. Our teaching staff is certified by the Russian Ministry of Education for these exams.
- Language Centre Moscow is now an official testing centre. Since May 2005, we are running the TRKI exams in-house!
How to proceed?
A TRKI Preparation Course is a combination of a Group Course (Standard or Intensive) or a One-to-one Course and a TRKI Preparation Module. The TRKI Preparation Module is a supplement taken just before the TRKI exam. Each module comprises 5 individual lessons. The number of modules required in order to pass a certain exam is jointly determined by the student and the teacher. We advice students, who wish to pass the exam to book one module in advance. If teacher and student decide that this is not enough, another module can be booked directly in our centres.
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Russian on the River
This unique programme combines a language course with an exciting river cruise from Moscow to St.Petersburg or vice versa. A true study tour with lessons, lectures and visits to ancient towns along the route will guarantee a busy and interesting time on board. While it is possible to book only the cruise, we strongly recommend to precede the time on board with a two week Group Course in one of our centres.
Depending on the departure date, the cruise starts either from Moscow or from Moscow. The route also differs slightly for the various dates (see cruise itinerary for details).
For the time being, we only offer one level per cruise. Students interested in this programme should note that our level definitions on the ship are wider than the ones we use in our centres. This means that groups might not be as homogenous as in our schools in St.Petersburg or Moscow. On the other hand, groups will be very small (average 5 students, maximum 10), so that each participant will receive enough personal attention from the teacher on that cruise.
The course will combine topics of the Standard Group Course (15 lessons) and 5 lectures related to the cruise excursion programme (on Russian history, culture and everyday life). The exact lessons schedule depends on the cruise itinerary and can be changed at any time. Students booking the Group Course which precedes the cruise will have a total of 60 lessons from which 20 lessons will be given on the ship.
Cruise ship description: The ships offered are Russian river vessels, all recently renovated. The ship features outside cabins with majestic views of the passing countryside, and all are air-conditioned with private shower. There are dining rooms, bars, a small souvenir shop, and salons on board the vessels. Laundry service is also available. The total passenger capacity is 240 persons. Most passengers are travellers from European countries and USA.
Besides the Russian course and the teacher's assistance during the cruise, the cruise includes:
- Accommodation in outside cabins, featuring a large window, shower and WC, air-conditioning;
- Full board in the ship's restaurant with the same menu for all passengers irrespective of the cabin category. Meal service begins with dinner on day of embarkation and ends with breakfast on day of disembarkation;
- Excursion programme in each of the ports of call.
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