Its objective is a student who is familiar with all the basic grammar of Russian from the sound system to the participles and syntax. Since the content courses are primarily reading courses, the participles will be emphasized for the first time, since they are used more in written than in spoken Russian. However, the goal is a student who is well-versed in all the basic grammar and who knows many of the finer points, as well. The course will be divided into grammatical explanations, grammatical exercises, and conversation and composition based on the focal grammar of the day. New grammatical information will be introduced on Mondays and Wednesdays, practiced in free conversations on Friday, and written up in a composition over the weekend for the following Monday.
Writing is the next best thing to speaking a language.
While reading and comprehension requires only a passive knowledge of the language, speaking and writing require an active mastery of it. Writing is useful for language learners since it requires the active knowledge, but is paced at the level of the individual learner. It allows the learner to access dictionaries and reference grammars when their active knowledge is lacking. Course activities will be arranged according to the following weekly schedule. Monday Composition based on the focal grammar of the previous week due Oral reports on compositions Introduction of new grammatical topics.