Course Content: This course is the first semester of Russian language instruction developing functional proficiency in listening, speaking, and reading. Writing will be developed primarily through workbook home assignments.
Welcome to Russian 506! This course is designed to introduce you to the language and culture of one of the most influential and important regions of the world – today and over a millennium of history. Russian is spoken by more than 200 million people in the former Soviet Union, and an additional 150 million throughout the world. It is the language of some of the world’s greatest literature: Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Pasternak, Bulgakov, Nabokov, Gorky, and Solzhenitsyn. It is the culture of some of the greatest scientists and innovators in the West: Lomonosov, Mendeleev, Pavlov, and Gagarin. And it is the country of some of most influential politicians of the Twentieth Century: Lenin, Stalin, Gorbachev, Putin – and Medvedev! The major cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg attract thousands of tourists, businesspeople, and students every year, while in Siberia and the Caspian, oil and petroleum products are produced at a rate that rivals that of the Middle East. As a Member of the Group of Eight, Russia has become in the 21st century a power player in global policy from economics to terrorism to the environment. And, as events last year in North Ossetia and Georgia indicate, Russia remains as unpredictable in the shaping of world affairs as it was during Soviet times. As such, a command of the Russian language is a powerful (and lucrative!) facility in virtually any area of employment, be it government service, business, law, medicine, teaching, engineering, or the military. As you begin your adventure in learning Russian, use the resources of the Slavic Department and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies to further your knowledge of this fascinating region, people, and culture. And most of all, use your instructor as a live source of information, advice, and support! Удачи Вам! Good luck!
Required Textbook: • Davidson, Gor, and Lekic. Russian: Stage One: Live from Russia! vol. 1, (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. 2008). This packaged set comprises one basic textbook, one workbook, one audio CD, and one DVD. Available at the University Co-op.
Recommended:
• Cruise, Edwina. English Grammar for Students of Russian, (Ann Arbor, MI: Olivia and Hill Press, 1993).
• Garza, Thomas. Fundamentals of Russian Verbal Conjugation for Teachers and Students, (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt and ACTR Publications), 1993.
• Katzner, Kenneth, ed. English Russian/Russian English Dictionary, (New York: Wiley Publishers, 1994).
