Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Welcome to Russian 203! I look forward to a great term with you!

RUS 203 is the second quarter of a three quarter second year Russian sequence. Students should have completed RUS 202 or have the equivalent experience with Russian to be successful in this course. If you have experience with Russian and are unsure if RUS 203 is the right class for you, please email me about taking a placement test. Kristine Shmakov at: kshmakov@pcc.edu 

Class structure: During our Zoom class sessions, I’ll teach new material and we’ll practice it together. The course will be taught in full Russian immersion, so you’ll hear and speak Russian as much as possible. It’s a great way to learn a language! You can expect to be interacting in groups of 2-3 classmates in breakout rooms. Improving speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills is a primary goal of this class, and we’ll have fun practicing together while incorporating cultural components, games, and music…all in Russian! Camera use is strongly encouraged and is an important part of building our language learning community. However, if students need to have their cameras off at times that is okay too.

Attendance requirements: This class meets live over Zoom on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-3:20pm. Attendance on Tuesdays is required. On Thursdays, students have two choices: either attend the Thursday Zoom class from 1-3:20pm or watch a 2-hour 20-minute asynchronous teaching/activity video before coming to class the following Tuesday. (Students choosing the video option will submit audio recordings of the video activities to receive a participation grade.) Attendance at the Thursday Zoom sessions is strongly suggested and encouraged, and it’s much more fun than watching a video and recording yourself! But those who can’t regularly attend on Thursdays will still be able to learn Russian and do well in the course by completing activities in the asynchronous class videos instead.

Time commitment: You’ll spend around 9-10 hours a week on this class: 4 hours and 50 minutes attending class, plus another 5-6 hours studying and completing two homework assignments per week. Homework is due every Tuesday and Thursday at 1pm.

Textbook requirements: The “Poidyom” textbook, homework packet and the novella «Голубое и зелёное» are required for RUS 203 and are available for purchase at the PCC Sylvania Bookstore for $120 total. I’ll also make the “Poidyom” text available as a free downloadable pdf, but the homework packet and novella must be purchased. Most students prefer to buy a hard copy of the textbook because we will be writing in it a lot and trying to use a 650-page pdf during Zoom class online is cumbersome. I encourage you to buy it if you can afford to.

Student success: Students who have taken remote Russian classes love interacting as a class and with partners during breakout rooms and getting immediate feedback from me during the live Zoom classes. They also appreciate the option to attend either the Thursday Zoom class or watch the asynchronous class video. This combination of synchronous and asynchronous formats provides flexibility and allows you to fit RUS 203 into your busy schedule. 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. So, please do not let learning Russian remotely deter you from continuing your Russian language journey spring 2024! I would love to have you as part of this class!

До скорей встречи! (Until we meet!)

Professor Kristine Shmakov

A microphone and webcam are required for this course. Webcam usage in class is required during class, in order to be able to see each other when speaking and to read non-verbal cues that are critical in a language course. A webcam is also required for the final exam oral interview for this course.