US Russian 1
Ongoing Enrollment
While our courses are no longer available for purchase on the website, St. Raphael School is open to inquiries about enrolling in courses at any time during the year. If you wish to enroll in a Yearlong course for the 2020-2021 school year after the official add/drop deadline (September 21), you will need to contact us directly. We will consider each request on a case-by-case basis after considering several factors, including size of the class, the preparedness of the student, the willingness of the instructor to accommodate a late addition to the class, and the content of the course. If you would like to submit a request for enrollment in an ongoing course, please visit our Contact Us page.
Students will begin building a foundation to communicate in Russian in both oral conversation and writing. We will encounter the richness of Russian language and culture in both its historical and contemporary contexts. Focus will be on exposure to “real-life” language through in-class conversation, videos, visual arts, and simple literary or practical texts. The course will move through the grammatical building blocks of Russian via authentic communication tasks. As we build our knowledge of the language, we will move into using more and more Russian in the classroom, so that by the end of the academic year, the course will be conducted primarily in Russian. Written homework will be required after each lesson to allow for contemplation and reinforcement of the new material. The course is rigorous but allows time for students to engage the beauty of Russian language and culture. Grammatical concepts introduced will assist students in a deeper understanding of the English language.
In the course, students will learn how to:
- Read, write, and pronounce the Russian alphabet
- Memorize and understand introductory Russian vocabulary
- Distinguish between masculine, feminine, neuter, and plural forms
- Understand and conjugate some basic Russian verbs
- Distinguish between grammatical cases and tenses
- Have elementary-level conversations in formal and informal settings, including, but not limited to, introductions, getting to know others, cardinal numbers, families, nationalities, location and possession, emotions, preferences, and hobbies.
- Encounter Russian culture and history, especially those related to Russian Orthodox tradition.
View the SRS Russian Curriculum Map
Syllabus
The course will use an excellent free online text book, Mezhdu Nami, which is designed for university students, but will be adapted to be appropriate for a high school setting. All other materials will be provided by the instructor.
https://mezhdunami.org/
Dr. Erin Moulton has a deep love for education and has been teaching in some capacity for over two decades. She holds a PhD in Slavic linguistics from the University of Kansas and has also studied at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In the past, she served as an instructor of Russian language, literature, and culture at University of Kansas. She has worked professionally as an editor, copywriter, and project manager in the fields of international compliance and revenue operations. She also serves as youth communications liaison for the Orthodox Church in America Diocese of the Midwest and as board president of the Orthodox Christian Translation Society. Erin and her husband, Christian, are parishioners at Holy Trinity Church in Overland Park, Kansas, where she teaches church school and assists in creating a multiyear cycle of curriculum for the parish. Erin and Christian have four children, all of whom she has educated at home over the past 15 years. moultonstraphael@gmail.com
Computer: You will need a stable, reliable computer, running with processor with a speed of 1 Ghz or better on one of the following operating systems: Mac OS X with MacOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or later; Windows 8, 7, Vista (with SP1 or later), or XP (with SP3 or later). We do NOT recommending using an iPad or other tablet for joining classes. An inexpensive laptop or netbook would be much better solutions, as they enable you to plug an Ethernet cable directly into your computer. Please note that Chromebooks are allowed but not preferred, as they do not support certain features of the Zoom video conference software such as breakout sessions and annotation, which may be used by our teachers for class activities.
High-Speed Internet Connection: You will also need access to high-speed Internet, preferably accessible via Ethernet cable right into your computer. Using Wi-Fi may work, but will not guarantee you the optimal use of your bandwidth. The faster your Internet, the better. We recommend using a connection with an download/upload speed of 5/1Mbps or better. You can test your Internet connection here.
WebCam: You may use an external webcam or one that is built in to the computer.
Headset: We recommend using a headset rather than a built-in microphone and speakers. Using a headset reduces the level of background noise heard by the entire class.
Zoom: We use a web conferencing software called Zoom for our classes, which enables students and teachers to gather from around the globe face to face in real time. Zoom is free to download and easy to use.
To download Zoom:
- Visit zoom.us/download.
- Click to download the first option listed, Zoom Client for Meetings.
- Open and run the installer on your computer.
- In August, students will be provided with instructions and a link for joining their particular class.
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First, read the available course descriptions, noting prerequisites, target grades, and course objectives. If you think your student is prepared for the course, go ahead and register. After registration, a placement assessment may be provided to students, depending on the course and the student’s previous enrollment with Scholé Academy. Registration is finalized when the student’s placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.
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Our Assistant to the Principal will be in touch with you after your enrollment to help you with next steps, including any placement evaluations that may be required for your course selections.
This registration will be finalized when the student’s placement assessment has been returned by the course instructor with placement confirmation.