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RUS 103 course details

RUS 103 is the third quarter of a three quarter First year Russian sequence and is for students who have completed RUS 102 or 2 year of high school level Russian. If you have questions about placement, please email Professor Kristine Shmakov at kshmakov@pcc.edu.

Class structure: RUS 103 is a remote online class that meets over Zoom for our class sessions twice a week on the days and times listed in the schedule. During our Zoom classes together, I’ll teach you Russian vocabulary and grammar and we’ll practice together as a class and in breakout rooms with a partner. The course will be taught in full Russian immersion, so you’ll hear and speak Russian as much as possible. It’s a great and super effective way to learn a language! Gaining basic speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills is the primary goal of this class, and we’ll have fun practicing together while incorporating cultural components, lively activities, games, and music…all in Russian! Camera usage is an important part of building our language learning community, so we can all see each other speaking and use body language to help us communicated and stay in Russian. Make sure you have a working webcam and microphone for participating in this class.

Attendance requirements: This class meets live over Zoom twice a week. Attendance at the first class of the week is always required. For the second class each week students have two choices: 1) Either attend the live Zoom class or 2) watch a 2-hour pre-recorded asynchronous teaching/activity video and submit audio recordings of all the oral video activities and the written activities before coming to class the following week to receive a participation grade. Attendance at the second Zoom class of the week is strongly encouraged, and it’s much more fun than watching a video and recording yourself! But those who can’t regularly attend twice a week will still be able to learn Russian and do well in the course by completing activities in the asynchronous class videos instead. This can allow you to fit learning Russian into your schedule if you have work conflicts.

Time commitment: You’ll spend around 7-8 hours a week on this class: 3 hours and 50 minutes attending class, plus another 3-4 hours studying and completing two homework assignments per week.

Textbook requirements: There are both a textbook and a homework book for this course. All students are required to purchase the homework from the ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Sylvania Bookstore for $24.

You also must have our first-year Russian textbook “Welcome” and it is available in two different formats. 1) You may opt to use a free downloadable pdf of the textbook that will be posted on the RUS 103 D2L page. It’s a 700-page pdf and can be cumbersome to use while attending class on line. We will also be writing in it regularly. But, it is free! 2) Students who would prefer to buy a hard copy of the textbook, so that they can write in it and use it more easily while attending class on Zoom, can purchase it at the ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Sylvania Bookstore for $101. This will be out textbook for RUS 103 too. If you can afford the textbook, I encourage you to purchase it, since it’s easier to use a hard copy. But, if you need to save money, you can use the free pdf.

In addition, there’s an optional dictionary you can purchase at the Sylvania Bookstore. It is useful for RUS 103. You will need lined notebook paper for completing your written homework assignments.

Student success: Students who have taken our remote Zoom Russian classes really enjoy interacting as a class and with partners during breakout rooms and getting immediate feedback from me during classes. They also appreciate the video attendance option for the second class of the week, if they have a work conflict. Students in our remote classes consistently attain the same levels of oral, written, and listening proficiency as they do in face-to-face classes. This isn’t surprising because everything about the remote Russian courses is the same as with in-person classes, except we meet over Zoom instead of in a classroom on campus. You can find more information about the ²»Á¼Ñо¿Ëù Russian program at: .

Please email Kristine Shmakov at kshmakov@pcc.edu if you have any questions about the course. I am looking forward to continuing our Russian language journey together and working with you this winter!

Microphone, Webcam