How to choose a textbook of Russian for children: 12 questions

There are a lot of good Russian textbooks for children on the market. How can you choose the one that is right for you and your students?

I can already hear the exclamation: Well, since she is an author, she will now start promoting her textbooks! But I won’t start; later I’ll explain why. And now back to the topic. In the first part, I will tell you about selection criteria, how I personally would choose a Russian textbook, what questions I would ask during the selection. In the second part, so be it — we will talk a little about my books, and decide for yourself whether the textbook Soroka is suitable for you, or you need to look for something else. But first, how to choose a textbook.

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Reading With Flashcards

Answers to the parents’ questions

Question #1: Why do we use flashcards for reading?

Answer: Flashcards are easier to sort and shuffle. You can add words that students should read and remove those that they already read well.

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Cartoons

I’m often asked which cartoon I can recommend to kids that learn Russian.

The answer is: The one that corresponds to their language level. It means that if your students follow the curriculum of the Soroka course, which is for beginners, then the cartoon should be of the same level. That way, it will make sense!

To give you a better understanding of why level-matching is important, I suggest that you conduct an experiment.

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Grandmas – YouTube Channel

SorokaDigital YouTube channel presents

Turn on English subtitles and enjoy.

Grandmothers Can Get Involved

A modern grandmother is not a little old lady in a headscarf. A modern grandmother seeks recipes on the Internet, watches films on YouTube, drives a personal car to do the shopping, and sends messages to her grandsons while dying her hair at a hairdressers’ or getting a pedicure. A 21st-century grandmother can also wear a headscarf, anytime she wants — as a turban on her head, for instance.

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Parents’ Questions

“My son is 5 years old. Can we use the ‘Soroka’ course with him?” a parent asked me in an email.

It depends on how well the boy knows Russian, since there are 5-year-old children who speak Russian fluently and don’t need the Soroka course.

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Toys Help to Learn Russian

One of the ways in which my Soroka course helps you to teach Russian as a foreign language to children is through its use of the Oral Approach. The order of work that is followed is: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

In your letters you often write that it is very difficult for your students to repeat the same thing several times.

I understand them since I myself do not like doing it; therefore, we need to come up with something to make it exciting for them.