Russian Beginners (full syllabus)

Known for logical sentence structures, poetry and literature, Russian is a language worth uncovering – and it’s not as complicated as you may think.

You’ll start by getting to grips with the Russian alphabet, using the Cyrillic script, taking time to recognise and practise each letter’s sound.

As the year progresses and your confidence grows, you’ll work with more complex grammatical structures, as we introduce you to reflexive verbs and adjectives.

The focus of the course is highly practical, covering topics useful in daily conversation or for travel, including booking hotel rooms, ordering food, shopping for souvenirs and asking for directions.

You’ll engage in a range of listening, speaking and writing exercises to practise and check your understanding. By the end of the three terms, you’ll be able to communicate at CEFR A1 level.

Who is it for?

No experience is needed to enrol on this course. We will start from scratch and take you through the full beginners syllabus.

Timetable

The course includes 60 hours of learning and is taught across three terms, starting in October and finishing in July.

October – December (Part 1)

One evening per week (two-hour lessons) for ten consecutive weeks.

Christmas Break

January – March (Part 2)

One evening per week (two-hour lessons) for ten consecutive weeks.

Easter break

April/May – July (Part 3)

One evening per week (two-hour lessons) for ten consecutive weeks.

Missed October enrolment? We have other beginners options in January or in April/May.

Benefits

• Study the full syllabus for the lowest price
• Reach CEFR A1 level over one year
• Taught by qualified native speakers in small class sizes

Throughout the year, you’ll learn to

• introduce yourself and talk about your family
• understand the alphabet and Russian pronunciation
• use numbers, ask for and tell the time
• ask for directions and book into a hotel
• describe things
• order food and shop for souvenirs
• talk about your leisure time
• invite someone to a restaurant
• discuss likes and dislikes
• describe yourself and your family
• describe rooms in the house and talk about your hometown.

Grammatical structures

• russian alphabet
• masculine, feminine and neuter nouns
• personal and possessive pronouns
• pronouns – formal and informal you
• genitive singular case of masculine and feminine nouns
• genitive singular with numbers
• consolidation of noun cases
• short adjectives
• present tense conjugation of the verb знать
• the basic rules of the past tense
• conjugation of the verbs работать and делать in present tense
• the full present tense forms of verbs
• prepositional case
• adjectives
• accusative case
• present tense of the verb говорить
• short form of adjectives (going out)
• genitive plural of masculine nouns
• plural and singular of nouns
• dative singular of nouns
• consolidation of conjugation of verbs in present tense
• the verb “to go”
• reflexive verbs
• prepositions
• instrumental singular of nouns
• nouns in dative, instrumental and prepositional plural
• declension of personal pronouns
• adjectives in the accusative singular
• the use of dative to express age
• consolidation of reflexive nouns
• the perfective and imperfective aspect of the verbs.

You will be awarded an official City, University of London certificate on completion of the course if you attend over 70 per cent of the classes. The course is not formally accredited.

Assessment

Any assessment will be informal to help you evaluate your own progress.

Grammar reading exercises will be set as homework. Your progress will be assessed on an on-going basis through homework and performance in class.

Teaching

As well as work on pronunciation and grammar in context, you will learn through interactive activities including:

• classroom discussion
• pair and group work
• role-playing
• listening to audio clips and watching videos.

You don’t need any experience of Russian to enrol.

If you have learned some beginners Russian before, you can skip the very basics and enrol onto part 2 or part 3 of the course.

English requirements

You will need a good level of spoken and written English to enrol on this course.