Russian Courses in St. Petersburg
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Group Russian Courses
Communicative teaching in small groups (maximum 10 participants per group) makes this course a pleasurable and productive experience. Our Standard Group Course gives participants the chance to talk and to play different roles, and to learn communicative skills in "real life" situations. This course of twenty weekly lessons is offered on a continuous basis year round with intake every second week and follows a modular pattern of two-week units.
For participants of four weeks or longer, following modules build upon the grammar basics of the first module, treating the same grammar topics from a different angle with more in-depth explanations, more complex vocabulary, different exercises and more dialogues and role-play in class.
The groups are formed according to an assessment test, which is compulsory for every participant.
Standard Group Courses are available at six levels all year round, at 8 levels during high season. Beginners may start on the dates indicated (*) and are advised to be familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet.
Each course starts on a Monday and ends on a Friday. The minimum course length is two weeks. The maximum course length is open.
Intensive Group Russian Course (Language Plus)
Our Intensive Group Course comprises 25 lessons per week in groups with maximum ten participants. The morning lessons (20) are taken together with the students, which have booked our Standard Group Course. The afternoon supplement (5 lessons on two days – usually Tuesday and Thursday) will be offered in three different levels:
- A1 - Beginne
- A1+/A2 – Elementary
- B1 – Intermediate
- B2 – Upper-intermediate
The content of this afternoon supplement focuses on subjects of general interest like Business and Economy, Russian Mass Media Today; Culture, History and Literature.
One-to-One Russian Course
The teacher and the student jointly determine the exact content of a Professional One-to-One course. The student is invited to specify his/her fields of interests by completing our need analysis, which allows us to pre-select material, establish a study-plan and prepare a specific vocabulary.
One-to-one courses are available in varying degrees of intensity: 15, 20, 30 or 40 lessons per week. For 30 lessons or more the student is taught by a team of two teachers.
These courses can be booked throughout the year. The minimum course length is one week with each course starting on a Monday and ending on a Friday. On agreement, lessons can also be held on weekends.
Participants may also book additonal 5-lesson-modules as a supplement to any One-to-one or Group Course.
In the Host-family (total immersion)
Total Immersion Courses are One-to-one Courses with 20 weekly lessons run outside the school. The lessons are given by one of our teachers who sees the student where he lives, typically at his host family.
Course types, rates and dates are identical to those of our One-to-one courses taken at the school.
TRKI Preparation Russian Course
Liden & Denz is an official preparation and centre for the Test of Russian as a Foreign Language TRKI. The exam measures students' linguistic ability for university studies in Russian, either in Russia or their home country. The TRKI is recognized by the Russian Federal Ministry of Education and must be taken in one of the appointed regional exam-centres. A TRKI exam can be taken every week of the year. Exam costs are between USD 60 and USD 120 and must be paid directly to the exam centre.
Currently the Russian testing system for speakers of Russian as a Foreign language consists of beginner and elementary levels as well as four levels of competency in Russian as a Foreign Language and corresponding tests. The most common are:
Elementary Level (TBU): certifies that the applicant has acquired basic communicative skills in a number of daily situations. With no Russian skills to start with, it takes on average a 16 week group course and one TRKI exam module to pass this exam.
(TRKI-1): certifies that the applicant has reached Intermediate Level of communicative skills on a variety of social, cultural and professional topics. TRKI-1 allows enrolling in a Russian University. With no Russian skills to start with, it takes on average a 24 week group course and one, maybe two TRKI exam modules to pass this exam.
(TRKI-2): certifies a relatively high level (upper Intermediate) of communicative competency in all communicative contexts. The certificate involved is required for obtaining Bachelor's and Master's degrees on graduation from Russian higher educational institutions. It takes 400 lessons or 20 weeks in a group course to pass from TRKI-1 to TRKI-2. One or two TRKI exam modules are required to pass this exam.
Why prepare TRKI at Liden & Denz?
- Comparing with state educational institutions, our groups are small. It is also possible to apply for an individual course, which allows concentrating on the needs of a particular student.
- Liden & Denz students consistently show high pass rates.
- TRKI preparation courses are planned accordingly to the new official testing standards. Our teaching staff is certified by the Russian Ministry of Education for these exams.
How to proceed?
A TRKI Preparation Course is a combination of a Group Course (Standard or Intensive) or a One-to-one Course and a TRKI Preparation Module. The TRKI Preparation Module is a supplement taken just before the TRKI exam. Each module comprises 5 individual lessons. The number of modules required in order to pass a certain exam is jointly determined by the student and the teacher. We advice students, who wish to pass the exam to book one module in advance. If teacher and student decide that this is not enough, another module can be booked directly in our centres.
Liden & Denz does not offer light 'holiday' courses. All our programs are intensive, demand full participation and require a certain dose of self-discipline. However, our serious yet pragmatic approach to language teaching does not hinder us from maintaining an informal atmosphere in and around the school. Teachers, teaching plans and textbooks are all geared towards a comparatively high speed of learning.
In Russia basic medical care is guaranteed by the State free of charge. In principle, this includes visitors who suffer a medical emergency. However, both foreigners and Russians tend to avoid state institutions, if they can afford it. Private clinics are more inviting and generally provide a service that is at least as good as state provision.
For most levels we recommend three to twelve weeks in a general group course or two to eight weeks for one-to-one tuition. For general group courses we use our own text book, developed by the school and regularly tested and improved. The language in the classroom is Russian, however, we encourage the use of bilingual dictionaries and our teachers will use, where needed, supplementary explanations in English, German and French.
Example of a Progress Report
Customer: SEES Communicaid
School L&D on Press
Course participants: Cabin Crew from British Airways
Language: Russian
Teacher: Maria M. Potapova
INITIAL ASSESSMENT cf. SSEES-Communicaid Report
REPORT
Course structure: Closed group of 6 students of varying knowledge from 1b to 2b, 5 sessions of 4 lessons, 50 min each within 1 week
Dates: 6.07. – 10.07.1998
Subjects covered after completion of block:
The course consisted of 20 lessons of 50 min each and lasted 1 week. The group had special training needs and the course dealt mostly with job-related vocabulary and fluency practice. There were also communicative grammar tasks and role-plays.
Although the initial level of Russian within the group differed, all the members exhibited good communicative abilities in the language which allowed them to improve their fluency skills, particularly those relating to commands, requests, official announcements, making decisions and solving problems. Self - study tasks were also completed effectively. Attendance by all participants was 100%.
Recommendations for further studies would include the revision of cases and more practical grammar as well as further fluency practice. This would mean enlarging vocabulary (adjectives and synonyms, words and patterns for expressing emotions and attitudes etc.) and a better command of verb and syntax.
Phonetics: The main Russian intonation contours were practiced, especially IC-3, IC-3 in requesting, IC-5, paying attention to reduction, correct stress and consonants clusters.
Grammar: The main types of verbs were covered, as well as verbal aspect - formation and use, adverbs, adverbs of time, indefinite adverbs, adverbs of measure and degree, imperatives, conditionals, exhortative sentences, reported speech (indirect questions without interrogative words, advice, order and command, request, requirement etc.) and impersonal sentences.
Topics and vocabulary: Getting acquainted; the Russian way to address people; professional and personal qualities of stewards / stewardesses; special job-related vocabulary; solving problems, making decisions; official announcements; official and informal styles of communication.
Reading comprehension: ‘It Happened in the Air’ – the study-book story, home- reading and follow-up dramatization, special job-related dialogues (reading, analysis, role-play), official instructions and announcements (reading and analysis).
