General vocabulary development will be followed by thematically organized topics, including greetings and introductions, self and family, education, work, and human relationships. Special work in the etiquette of common social situations, including telephone communication, letter writing, and general conversational strategies also will be covered. There will be a review and expansion of difficult topics in Russian grammar, including verb conjugation, aspect, verbs of motion, time expressions, and some work on participles and gerunds. Vocabulary and reading proficiency will be developed through classical and contemporary works by such authors as Pushkin, Lermontov, Zamiatin, Aitmatov, and Rasputin. This course is designed for students who wish to further develop their speaking and reading proficiency.
Vocabulary development emphasizes verbs and verb government as essential to effective communication.
Grammar work includes both the review of difficult topics and the introduction of new material. Work on reading comprehension makes use of the study of word formation to decrease reliance on the dictionary. Original texts for reading and daily discussion are drawn from classic and contemporary Russian literature, including works by Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Shvartz, and Akhmatova, as well as from contemporary film. See the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute 's website for summer courses on Ukrainian language and literature.