Russian

Course summary

Learning a modern language for GCSE is a matter of taking your first steps. You learn rudimentary grammar and vocabulary that enable you to get by but real conversations are still beyond your reach. It is at the sixth-form level that you will deepen your grammatical competence and broaden your vocabulary so that you can converse about and debate real-world issues, and immerse yourself into the culture, literature and arts of the country. Even though we live in an age where it seems English is spoken everywhere and where Google Translate will help you where it is not, there is nothing like the experience and satisfaction of being able to step inside a different way of speaking and seeing the world. The Russian A level will introduce you to real Russian in real situations. You will look at the media, literature and film to acquaint you with and develop your knowledge of Russia, her language and culture from past to present. In the second year, you will cover two more topic areas as well as undertaking a detailed study of another short novella, “A Week Like Any Other”, by Natalia Baranskaya. The first of the new topics is Population and the Russian Multi-Cultural Society in which you will look at the variety of regions in the Russian Federation. The second new topic is Russia in the post-Soviet World. Here, you will look at political issues and the contemporary Russian state. Finally, you will have to work through improving your translation skills in a range of texts covering the four main themes.