RUSSIAN 190
CONVERSATIONAL RUSSIAN
DEPARTMENT OF EUROPEAN STUDIES SDSU
Fall 2015
Professor: Dr. Daria Shembel
Office hours: SH 228A; Th 12.30 – 2 p.m., and by appt.
E-mail: dshembel@yahoo.com
COURSE OVERVIEW
Description from the Official Course Catalog
RUSSN 190. Conversation Practice 1 (2)
Conversation skills through active participation in discussions, debates, and oral
presentations.
Prerequisites: RUSSIAN 100B
THIS IS AN ONLINE COURSE BASED ON WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS AND
ASYNCHRONOUS CONVERSATION AND OCCASIONAL
VIDEOCONFERENCING. EVERY WEEK YOU’LL SUBMIT ME YOUR
AUDIO RECORDINGS AND OTHER ASSIGNMENTS VIA EMAIL:
dshembel@yahoo.com
Course Description and Content
This course is part of ROTC intensive training in conversational Russian, which aims
to give students thorough oral practice in Russian. We will focus on conversational
and idiomatic as opposed to formal language training. We will work through
beginning/intermediate-level textbook Zhili-byli to cover various thematic fields
such as describing oneself and others, family, housing, shopping, transportations
etc, as well as to continue the acquisition of basic grammar structures. This is
partially an online course. Online sessions of the course will be based, among other
sources, on the materials of the Russian Through Film Online Course that is being
currently developed at LARC. Students will be working with media materials on a
variety of topics (introductions, family, education, etc). Video segments will be
supplemented by transcripts and glossary lists, as well as additional materials on
the subject derived from authentic social media sources.
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Students will develop skills in oral interview and oral presentation
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techniques, and skills in conversational interaction
2. Students will be able to understand the difference between oral and
written discourse
3. Students will be able to work with authentic videos and texts in Russian,
summarize and analyze them
4. Students will demonstrate knowledge of Russian-American intercultural
communication patterns and will be able to talk about the world of leisure
and work in Russia.
Required readings
Miller, L V. Politiva, L V
Zhili - byli....12 urokov russkogo tiazyka. Bazovyi uroven. Uchebnik. ISBN: 978-586547-144-8; Zlatoust: 2007
Course Outline
Weekly topics
Scheduled Assignments
Неделя 1 (Week 1)
Знакомство. Расскажи мне о себе!
Getting acquainted.
E-discussion entry.
Неделя 2 (Week 2)
Семья.
Family.
Vocabulary Check
Неделя 3 (Week 3)
Дом. Квартира.
Housing.
E-discussion entry.
Audio-recording is due.
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Weekly topics
Scheduled Assignments
Неделя 4 (Week 4)
Мой день.
My day.
Vocabulary Check
Неделя 5 (Week 5)
Город.
City life.
E-discussion entry.
Audio-recording is due.
Неделя 6 (Week 6)
В магазине.
Shopping.
Vocabulary Check
Неделя 7 (Week 7)
Транспорт.
Transportation.
E-discussion entry.
Audio-recording is due.
Неделя 8 (Week 8)
В ресторане.
Food. In the restaurant.
Vocabulary Check
Неделя 9 (Week 9)
Портрет.
Portrait
E-discussion entry.
Audio-recording is due.
Неделя 10 (Week 10)
Театр. Кино.
Theater. Cinema
Vocabulary Check
Недели 11-12 (Weeks 11, 12)
Профессия. Образаование.
Education. Profession.
E-discussion entry.
Audio-recording is due.
Неделя 13-14 (Weeks 13, 14)
Tрадиции. Обычаи. Праздники.
Traditions. Customs. Holidays.
Vocabulary Check
Proficiency levels
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Students enrolled in this course possess a wide range of proficiency levels,
therefore your language development will be assessed on an individual basis.
Blackboard
Consult the Blackboard website for this course before every class. You are
responsible for accessing materials available there.
Grading
CL-150: 30%
Submission of other media assignemtns: 70%
Fun links for you to play with:
Russian-English / English-Russian Dictionary
www.multitran.ru
Reasons to study Russian
http://www.russnet.org/why/index.html
Popular Russian Web Portals (similar to Yahoo):
www.yandex.ru
www.rambler.ru
Google in Russian:
www.google.ru
Contemporary Moscow and Saint-Petersburg artistic life
www.afisha.ru
BBC News in Russian
http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/
Russian News:
www.gazeta.ru
www.chaskor.ru
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