NEWS and SPECIAL DEALS – October 2022

*** On Aug. 25, 2022, Marianna Avery and Polina Guelfreikh held a webinar called “Reading in Russian” (“Как читать с билингвами”), using the book “Vassily the Cat” (original title: “Бабушка кота Василия”) as reading material.  All 106 attendees received the link to the webinar recording. The video of the webinar will be coming out on the Soroka YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to SorokaDigital , so as not to miss it.

*** The Soroka 2 course is available for purchase at sorokam.com  as units. I’d like to remind you that each file is the “horizontal cross-section” of the course, as it contains pages from the Student’s Book, Activity Book and Teacher’s Book. This is a convenient way to purchase the course, one unit at a time.

Continue reading “NEWS and SPECIAL DEALS – October 2022” →
Soroka. Russian language for children

New York

Do I have any readers in New York? Would you like to meet there when I come?

I invite everyone interested to meet with me and other teachers of Russian as a foreign language. Speakers who have already confirmed their attendance: Olessia Apert, Alyona Greene, Olga Kisluhina and Ekaterina Klimchenko. We meet on Oct. 23, 2022, at 11am at Hampton Inn, located at:

220 West 41st St.
New York, New York, 10036-7203

We are planning to hold a small round table on the issues of teaching Russian to children, so be ready to ask your questions, please, and let me know if you also want to be a speaker.

Please, confirm that you are coming so that we can keep in touch and inform you about any changes to the program if such will be made.

Don’t hesitate to contact me by e-mail at opulentus@mail.ru; or call/text and ask questions on 855-765-1265.

Soroka. Russian language for children

The Adjectives and the Prepositional Case in the Soroka Course

Let’s begin with the definition. The adjective – is a part of speech that denotes a feature of the subject and answers primarily the question of “Which?”

Firstly, I propose to talk a bit about adjectives and “play” with them. I would like you to understand the full significance of this part of speech. All examples are taken from Vyacheslav Leikin’s book “Always on Thursday” (original title: “Всегда по четвергам”).

Continue reading “The Adjectives and the Prepositional Case in the Soroka Course” →
Soroka. Russian language for children

Answer to a Question Regarding Unit 10 of Soroka 1

“How can we learn all forms of verbs in this unit?” is a new question regarding Unit 10 of Soroka 1, which I received by mail and would like to reply to.

Before you start exploring the unit, set the goal to learn infinitives. Not infinitives in general, but of verbs that we have learned before in the third person singular (читает, ест, бежит, etc.). When you keep focused on it, the logic of the instructions becomes more apparent.

Follow the instructions in the Teacher’s Book. Stick to the Oral Approach (listening – speaking – reading – writing).

Continue reading “Answer to a Question Regarding Unit 10 of Soroka 1” →
Soroka. Russian language for children

sorokam.com NEWS

*** In the Sorokam e-bookstore all items are divided into groups now. I hope this will help our customers to find the right product faster. Here are our categories:

Books
This section includes only the books in the Soroka and Sarafan courses; the comic book; etc.

Additional Material
Tests, flashcards for reading, and other necessities for use in the Soroka course.

Consultations and Webinars
Registration for individual consultations and upcoming webinars; also, archived webinars for purchase.

Books by Units
This is the “horizontal cross-section” of the course — i.e., one file contains one unit from all three books. For instance, in the folder Unit 1 of the “Soroka 1: Russian for Kids” course, you will find pages from the Student’s Book, Activity Book and Teacher’s Book in English and Russian languages – all pages from Unit 1, Soroka 1.

*** The sorokam.com website has been migrated to the new host server; I hope that the operation speed of the site has significantly increased now.

*** I also remind our customers from Russia that the procedure of purchase is different for them. Here are three steps you should take in order to receive e-books:

1. Create a personal account on the website;

2. Send a list of items you want to purchase to opulentus@mail.ru;

3. Follow the instructions in the mail that you received in response.

Soroka. Russian language for children

Is One Hour Worth Spending on Learning Russian?

Another letter from the mail: “You say that the Soroka course is designed for students who study Russian one hour a week. We can learn just a little over this time. During the week, students easily forget what has been learned. Is it worth spending time and efforts to learn Russian? Should we start at all?”

I both agree and disagree with the author of these lines. I agree that having one hour a week for learning Russian is very little, as language is a pretty complicated system.

Continue reading “Is One Hour Worth Spending on Learning Russian?” →
Soroka. Russian language for children

Denver, CO

What: Meeting with Marianna Avery, author of books for teaching Russian for children, Soroka and Sarafan.

Where: Denver, CO, Botanic Garden, 1007 York St, Denver, CO 80206

When: July 8, 2022, from 10 am till 1 pm

For who: for teachers and parents who teach Russian for children

We meet at 10 am at the entrance to the Garden. The first 5 people will get free admission to the garden. Our plan, as we walk through the Garden, is to exchange questions and answers on teaching Russian for children. Lunch will be at a restaurant located in the Garden.

Don’t hesitate to call/text and ask questions on 855-765-1265. You also may text me to confirm that you are coming.

Look forward to seeing you there!

This is a link to the Garden web-site:

Soroka. Russian language for children

AATSEEL round table – invitation to participate

Dear all,

On February 2023, at the AATSEEL conference I am planning to organize a round table with the title “No Tears No Fears Russian Language Class for Children”, and I would like to invite you to participate.

In accordance with the AATSEEL rules for round tables, I must submit a list of participants with their contact information. Look here (https://www.aatseel.org/program/2023-guidelines/).

Could you please be so kind and join me for the round table? Your participation would be greatly appreciated.

Here are some potential topics for discussion:

  • Reducing prejudice against Cyrillic in reading lessons
  • Keeping children’s attention in the electronic age
  • Learning Russian and mending cultural barriers
  • The importance of recognizing and rewarding learning progress

You are welcome to add anything you propose to this list.

Here is an abstract from the rules of round table

“Roundtables are less formal than panels. Initial roundtable presentations are generally shorter than papers (about 10 min. per person). Then the speakers engage in discussion with each other, and the audience is usually invited to engage more directly than at panels. A roundtable is more of an open conversation: speakers come with their own insights and points of view, but not necessarily with a topic to analyze or a thesis to defend.”

Please let me know if you are interested in this round table and planning to participate, and I will include you into the proposal.

Let me know if you have more questions. Thank you!

Soroka. Russian language for children