How do I feel about this? Absolutely positive.
For those teachers who know the methodology; the technology; in what order to give lexical topics, grammatical topics, phonetics — for those who know all these, they don’t even need a textbook.
I’ll show you how I can conduct an RFL (Russian as a foreign language) lesson without a textbook.
Continue reading “Teaching RFL without textbooks”
Today we will look at specific examples of exercises and types of listening tasks. As usual, we are helped by A.A. Akishina and O.E. Kagan’s book “Learning to Teach.” The book has already become a classic. If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to read it and use it in your work. So, what should you do in class to develop listening skills?
1. Understand the teacher’s commands that must be followed: слушай, читай, повтори, скажи, подними руку.
Continue reading “20 listening exercises for the Russian lesson”Today I will talk about the main shortcomings when working with listening in an RFL (Russian as a foreign language) lesson, and what needs to be done to avoid them. At the end, we’ll see what happens with listening in the “Soroka” and “Sarafan” textbooks (especially in “Sarafan,” where there’s more listening).
Today the book “Learning to Teach” by A.A. Akishina and O.E. Kagan will help me. This book has long been a classic for RFL teachers. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it. Now let’s start with the shortcomings.
Continue reading “7 mistakes teachers of Russian make when working with listening comprehension”I have been studying languages for almost all of my life. It started with Spanish in Cuba, where my whole family lived for two years when I was 10. In addition to Spanish, which attracted me, I was lucky with my teacher of the Russian language. She never stopped telling us about the origin of the words, which was both fascinating and useful for learning the spelling. That’s how it all started. For all of my conscious life, I was surrounded by dictionaries and books in different languages. Some languages were managed to be learned to a decent level, like English. Some languages turned out to be forgotten because there was nowhere to use them, like French. But I still learn languages with alternate success, and at the time of writing this text, I’m studying — or rather revising — my Spanish, which I only spoke a little bit of about 40 years ago.
Continue reading “The Three Rules of Mine”There is no need to explain what tests are designed for; hence, I suggest considering their role within the course.
Each level includes three tests that are found on the final pages of the Teacher’s Book. Students are to take them after Lessons 5, 10 and 15.
Continue reading “Tests in the Soroka Course”Today I will answer a question from the mail: You represent Soroka as a one-year-long course, but the Student’s Book is so thin. How is that?
Today we will deal with a calendar and count. Soroka is designed for those students who study Russian once a week. Let’s count how many lessons they have over a year.
Continue reading “Thin but Functional”