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Russian refresher course
Thread poster: Carmen Cross
Carmen Cross
Carmen Cross  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:40
Arabic to English
+ ...
Nov 10, 2014

Hello everyone,

I studied Russian in college (including a "Russian for Research Purposes" course for graduate students) and would very much like to expand my knowledge of this beautiful language. I am already an established freelance German/Arabic --> English translator. I am interested in any online Russian language refresher courses/programs either in the United States or abroad.

Thank you for any ideas!

Carmen Cross
([email protected])
 
Vanda Nissen
Vanda Nissen  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 20:40
Member (2008)
English to Russian
+ ...
A degree course? Nov 10, 2014

Hi Carmen,

I am not quite sure whether you are looking for a degree course, you want to refresh Russian, or you want to add it to your portfolio?

I've been teaching Russian on different levels (University, online schools, courses for translators), and the answer really depends on what you are after.

I think, it is quite difficult nowdays to find a degree course because unfortunately, Russian is not popular nowadays.

A couple of years ago I pu... See more
Hi Carmen,

I am not quite sure whether you are looking for a degree course, you want to refresh Russian, or you want to add it to your portfolio?

I've been teaching Russian on different levels (University, online schools, courses for translators), and the answer really depends on what you are after.

I think, it is quite difficult nowdays to find a degree course because unfortunately, Russian is not popular nowadays.

A couple of years ago I published a book on the Russian speech etiquette (primarily aimed at Russian language learners), it has received very good reviews, if you want, drop me a message, and I can send you a copy (we all need to start somewhere:)).

Regards,

Vanda ▲ Collapse
 
LilianNekipelov
LilianNekipelov  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:40
Russian to English
+ ...
I've been speaking Russian all my life, so I don't really know how one would Nov 11, 2014

learn it as a course, but my feeling is that books might be much better than courses. I think you may have to get a good Russian grammar book, then some good Russian literature like Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky, and a few academic textbook written in Russian to read, in the field you are most interested in. Reading academic textbooks is a great practice.

I do not think Russian is as unpopular as Vanda said, at least not in the United States.
 
Vanda Nissen
Vanda Nissen  Identity Verified
Australia
Local time: 20:40
Member (2008)
English to Russian
+ ...
both in Europe and Oceania Nov 11, 2014

I do not think Russian is as unpopular as Vanda said, at least not in the United States.


Both in Europe and Oceania, unfortunately. In Australia, 90% of translation related courses are currently with Mandarin, the remaining languages share modest 10%, and I can assure you that Russian is less popular than Japanese, German, Spanish, Indonesian, French. In the best scenario, in Australia one can enrol into a non-degree course (also offered only by a few universities).

In 2014, there were only 18 students enrolled into the Russian course at the Copenhagen University, not much, I would say so it does not look that good.
 
Grace Shalhoub
Grace Shalhoub  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 12:40
French to English
+ ...
I remain rely on books Nov 12, 2014

Vanda Nissen wrote:

Hi Carmen,

I am not quite sure whether you are looking for a degree course, you want to refresh Russian, or you want to add it to your portfolio?

I've been teaching Russian on different levels (University, online schools, courses for translators), and the answer really depends on what you are after.

I think, it is quite difficult nowdays to find a degree course because unfortunately, Russian is not popular nowadays.

A couple of years ago I published a book on the Russian speech etiquette (primarily aimed at Russian language learners), it has received very good reviews, if you want, drop me a message, and I can send you a copy (we all need to start somewhere:)).

Regards,

Vanda


I have been studying Russian for 2,5 years (of which 2 intensive evening classes (15h/week) at a Parisian university; the first being a preparatory year to enroll in a BA in Russian Language). This year the university decide to cancel evening courses and gave the budget to Korean... I was unable to complete my degree.

I've been to Russia this summer and took Russian courses in Saint Petersburg (http://www.russian4foreigners.spbu.ru/). This institue gave me that push I needed not to give up this beautiful language. I took B1 courses for 2 weeks, and it made miracles (3h / day).

I strongly recommend you consider a short stay in Russia and buy learning material there. I was amazed by the variety of the books available, all of which I was unable to find in France. I bought, for example:

- Russian for Business (A2 level, very basic grammar, but good way to learn Business vocabulary - exactly what I needed) - http://www.russianbookshop.co.uk/russianbooks/9785865477280

- In the World of Mass Media (http://www.europeanbookshop.com/languagebooks/series/RUS/m1/c5/6/INWO) levels A2-B1 and B1-B2

- Такая разная Россия. Learn about the geograpgy, language and culture of the Russian Federation

I enjoy learning by myself, and these books have been keeping my busy for 4 months now!

Best of luck,
Grace


P.s. Vanda, I will be happy to know more about your book.


[Modifié le 2014-11-12 09:35 GMT]

[Modifié le 2014-11-12 10:51 GMT]
 


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Russian refresher course






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