Accelerated course covering the fundamentals of Russian grammar,
conversation, pronunciation, and reading, with an emphasis on
oral proficiency and comprehension.
Athena Title
Intensive Elementary Russian I
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in RUSS 1001
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
Students will engage in conversations on everyday topics (e.g., introductions, family, daily activities, ordering food) using appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and culturally respectful communication strategies.
Students will recognize and apply appropriate forms of address, greetings, and politeness strategies in Russian, adjusting language use to reflect cultural norms and the formality of various situations.
Students will modify speech and writing to suit different communicative contexts, such as informal conversations with peers, classroom discussions, and structured interactions with instructors or native speakers.
Students will introduce oneself, share basic personal details, express likes/dislikes, and provide simple opinions on familiar topics in an appropriate register.
Students will understand and appropriately respond to questions, requests, and short conversations on everyday topics, considering cultural conventions.
Students will actively participate in role-playing exercises that simulate real-world interactions (e.g., asking for directions, making purchases, interacting in a café), demonstrating awareness of cultural and linguistic conventions.
Students will work collaboratively in Russian towards a common goal (e.g., creating a travel plan, a museum tour, or role-playing a restaurant visit), negotiating scenarios, dialogue, and settings while considering the target audience and appropriate register.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of key aspects of Russian culture, including social customs, traditions, and everyday practices, and apply this knowledge to communicate in a culturally appropriate manner.
Topical Outline
Grammar and vocabulary are introduced progressively in
connection with specific communicative goals. The same topics
may occur more than once within the two-course sequence for
Intensive Elementary Russian: this allows students to master
structures and vocabulary in manageable segments. Each
reoccurrence of a topic introduces new details, while also
reinforcing material previously covered.
Alphabet and pronunciation
Greetings and introductions
Asking and answering yes-no questions
Gender of nouns and possessive modifiers
Plurals of masc. and fem. nouns
Thematic areas for the development of speaking skills:
Asking where someone lives
Finding out someone's identity
Making strong contrasts
Making introductions/getting acquainted
Grammar:
Verbs: present tense forms, 1st conjugation
Prepositional case of nouns
Accusative case of nouns
Formation of adverbs
Verbs of motion and expressing destinations
Subordinate clauses
Thematic areas for the development of speaking skills:
Asking what someone is doing
Asking about someone's occupation
Describing a new apartment
Discussing a homework assignment
Giving and soliciting opinions
Asking for directions
Grammar:
"To have": u + GEN constructions
Genitive case of nouns and pronouns
Verbs: present tense forms, 2nd conjugation
Verbs: Past tense
Permission and prohibition
Thematic areas for the development of speaking skills:
Describing an apartment, discussing problems
Making an inquiry over the phone
Making plans
Discussing knowledge of foreign languages
Discussing musical abilities
Grammar
Prepositional case of modifiers
More on irregular plurals
Accusative case of modifiers and pronouns
Genitive case of modifiers
Verbs of motion (cont.)
Demonstrative pronouns
Relative clauses
Thematic areas for the development of speaking skills:
Asking where someone studies
Clarifying directions
Discussing writers
Asking where to buy something
Ordering food
Discussing travel
