Association for Language Learning

Russian Language Committee

MEMBERS OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE COMMITTEE

Chair: Andrew Jameson

Members:
Natalia Foreman
Margaret Tejerizo, Editor - Rusistika
Natalia Tronenko
Vladimir Strukov

TEACHING RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: THE BASICS
16-18 April 2008

This seminar is organised by the South East Russian Language Society “Friendship” (Registered Charity No. 1121095) www.druzhba.org.uk with the support of the Russian Committee of the Association for Language Learning www.all-languages.org.uk and the Pushkin House www.pushkinhouse.org.uk.

Its main objective is to teach the teachers of Russian how to increase the effectiveness of their teaching techniques and accelerate the learning process for their students.

Participants: teachers of Russian in the UK and EU.

Lecturer: Dr Nina Vlasova-Kuritz , a senior lecturer and formerly the Chair of the Russian Language Department for Foreign Students at Moscow Conservatory, was one of the creators of the method of teaching Russian Language as a foreign language (RaFL) during the Soviet period. Dr Nina Vlasova-Kuritz is the author of many educational books for adults and children.

All lectures are in Russian.

Venue: Pushkin House, 5A Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2TA, UK

Attendance fee: £165 per person including tea and coffee, presentation materials and a textbook “Russian as a Foreign Language. Basic course for children” by Nina Vlasova .
10% discount (£148.50) if you book before 15 March 2008.

To register for the seminar and for the full details or any queries please contact:
Galina Clark Tel: 01322 330090 GalaEduc@aol.com

SEMINAR PROGRAMME

Date	Time	Schedule
16th April, Wednesday	10:00 – 12:00	Lecture: Objectives of the RaFL method and its difference from the traditional methods of teaching Russian as a Native Language (RaNL) to native speakers. Other methods of teaching foreign languages. Phonetics, vocabulary and grammar (morphology and syntax) in the RaFL method. Language models, their construction and further development. Stages of studying Russian.
	12:00 –	Lunch
	13:00	Lecture: The sequence of introducing grammar topics in the RaFL method. The system of cases in Russian. The notion of “case meaning”. Verbal government: the effect of the lexical meaning of verbs on the selection of noun case forms.
	14.00 – 15.00	Discussion and questions: Language models at the first stage of teaching. Expansion and further development of the models. How to define a “case meaning”? The correlation between the lexical meaning of verbs and the “case meaning”.

17th April, Thursday	10:00 – 12:00	Lecture: Peculiarities of learning Russian verbs. Sequential introduction of verb forms. Productive and non-productive verb classes. Introduction of the verbal aspect and other verb categories. Definition of verb classes and the sequence of introducing them. Linking verb classes to verb conjugation paradigms.
	12:00 – 13:00	Lunch
	13:00 – 14:00	Lecture: The verbs of motion. How do we use them? Prefixed verbs of motion.
	14.00 – 15.00	Discussion and questions: Grammatical and lexical properties of the verbs of motion. Analysis of exercises designed to practise the verbs of motion.

18th April, Friday	10:00 – 12:00	Lecture: Pronouns in Russian and their peculiarities. Why learners find pronouns “myself “ and “my own” difficult? Full and short form adjectives; adverbs; complex sentences; participles and gerunds within the RaFL method.
	12:00 – 13:00	Lunch
	13:00 – 14:00	Discussion and questions: Efficiency of the RaFL method.
	14.00 – 15.00	Tracking progress of participants
	15.00 – 17.00	Presentation of Certificates

Dear colleagues,

We have great news for you! The International Association for Russian Teaching (MAPRYAL http://www.mapryal.org ) invites school students of Russian in the UK to take part in the Russian Language Olympiad in Moscow, on 23-29 June 2008. The Olympiad takes place every three or four years and attracts representatives from many countries. In the past, British entrants enjoyed considerable success.

The competition to select the best UK students to participate in the Olympiad is organised by the ALL Russian Committee (http://www.all-languages.org.uk/committee_russian.asp). The details of the competition are below. We hope very much that you will find this Competition and possible free stay in Moscow motivating for your students, and that it will stimulate them to improve their knowledge of Russian language and culture. Previously, the experience has proved an extremely enjoyable one for all who have taken part, whether they gained a place on the final British team or not.

If you are interested in taking part in the Russian-Speaking Competition please confirm by e-mailing Natalia Tronenko natalia@tronenko.com by 10 March and submit the entries and accompanying information (see pdf) by 25 April.

I look forward to hearing from you soon,

With best wishes,

Dr Natalia Tronenko

ALL Russian Committee
Association for Language Learning
University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH
E-mail: natalia@tronenko.com

For further information about the UK Russian speaking contest (Mapryal heats) and an entry form, download the pdf.

ALL RUSSIAN ESSAY COMPETITION IN THE UK
2008

Students learning Russian at Schools, Colleges and Universities in the UK, including heritage learners, are invited to participate in the Second Russian Essay Competition 2008.

We hope that you will encourage your students to take part as this is an excellent way for them to compete nationwide with their peers in a field-wide event and to raise the profile of Russian at your institution.

Contestants must submit their essays by 14 March and winners will be announced by 30 April 2008.Winners in each category will receive prizes, and their essays will be published on the ALL website, in the Rusistika journal and in the London-INFO newspaper. Prizes will include books, and CDs We are hoping to invite the winners to a free lecture on the current exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London “From Russia: French and Russian Master paintings 1870-1925 from Moscow and St Petersburg”. All participants will receive certificates.

Please see further details of the competition below. Please do not hesitate to contact Natalia Tronenko natalia@tronenko.com if you have any queries.

The Competition has been organised with the support of:
The Russian Centre for International Scientific & Cultural Cooperation http://www.rusintercenter.ru
The British Council http://www.britishcouncil.org
The Scotland-Russia Forum http://www.scotlandrussiaforum.org
The Russian Society at Sussex http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/russian
UK Friends of the Hermitage http://www.hermitagefriends.org
The Russian Teachers’ Group

We thank the following organisations for financial support and the donation of prizes:
The Russian Centre for International Scientific & Cultural Cooperation http://www.rusintercenter.ru
Grant and Cutler http://www.grantandcutler.com
Ruslan Ltd http://www.ruslan.co.uk
UK Friends of the Hermitage http://www.hermitagefriends.org
Earworms Ltd http://www.earwormslearning.com

2008 Entry Details
2008 Entry Form

The first ALL Russian Essay Competition was organised in January-March 2007 and supported by the Russian Centre for International Scientific and Cultural Cooperation , London Info, Russkaya Mysl' and the Russian Life magazine. It was included in the events marking 2007 as the Year of Russian Language. The Competition was open to school pupils at all levels of Russian: beginners, those studying towards their GCSE- and A-levels, and there was a category for heritage learners. The were four winners, one in each category, out of 135 entries. The winners travelled to Oxford to receive their prizes at the ALL Language World annual conference on 31 March 2007.

(Click each category to view the essay)
The winning essays are: Category 1 : Emma Garrett from Impington Village College,16, wrote an essay about the Russian family. Category 2: Carmella Crinnion from St.Pauls ' Girls' School, 16, wrote an essay about Gagarin. Category 3: James Kane from Manchester Grammar School, 16, wrote an essay about Putin's successor. Category 4 , Charlotte Gunn, 10, from Russian Edinburgh School wrote an essay entitled "My life changed when...".