For those who have just joined our “Soroka” community, we have put together a short overview of our latest publications. It’s just the way you like it — no tedious theory. Here you will find only practice and ready-made solutions for those who face challenges in the classroom.
Here are the important topics we covered in our recent articles:
• How to Break the Silence in Class We discuss why students often stay quiet during Russian language lessons. It seems like they studied the topic and practiced the words, but there is only silence in response. Sound familiar? We look into the reasons behind this silence and look for specific steps to improve the situation.
• Translation in Russian Lessons: Help or Hindrance Is it worth constantly giving children hints in their native language, or is it better to focus on full immersion? Looking for answers together.
• How to Handle a Mixed-Level Group Let’s face it: managing a multi-level group is quite challenging for any educator. In this article, I look at what a teacher can do when dividing the students is not an option and who to focus on.
• How to Teach Children to Write in Russian Where to start and how to guide them step-by-step: from their very first written words to their first independent sentences and short texts. I explain why you should not rush this process and why a lack of mistakes is actually cause for concern.
• Why Listening Matters (And Why It Takes More Work) Many people think that if a teacher just speaks Russian in class, that’s all it takes. In fact, it’s not that simple. In the article “7 Mistakes in Teaching Listening Comprehension”, I explain how to keep children actively listening (check yourself to see if you make the same ones!). And in the article “Working with Audio Files”, 5 simple techniques await you on how to get the most out of audio materials and see great results in just 10 minutes a day.
• Can You Teach Russian If You Don’t Speak It Yourself? It may sound surprising, but it is quite feasible. Sharing the real-life story of Kató Lomb.
• Mistakes Are Growth Points. Without them, a student cannot make progress. I explain which slips you can easily look past and which ones require more work. And why parents, by doing the homework for their child, are actually doing them a disservice.
As you may have noticed, all these topics are tied together by a common teaching thread. Our blog serves as a great asset for those who experience difficulties in teaching, because you can always find ready-made tips and solutions here. By the way, if you prefer video, you can visit my YouTube channels in Russian or English — that’s where I break down the methodology most visually.
That is all for today. Visit the blog, read the new articles in whichever language is more convenient for you, and feel free to join the discussion with your questions and thoughts in the comments! I’d love to know how your lessons are going.
