Basics of Russian
Everything you need to know to navigate a Russian environment
If you want to know Russian...
but you don't have time for a whole college program, this is the course for you.
You will...
- Learn to read Russian.
- Recognize spoken words and phrases.
- Navigate the Russian web.
- Find resources in Russian.
- Become an informed tourist.
I can't promise that, after taking this course...
- You'll be able to translate Russian novels
- You'll write a Nobel Prize-winning lecture in Russian on the meaning of life
- You'll have the skills to draft legal documents without the help of professionals
- You'll be able to argue politics with Vladimir Putin (and win)
But you will be able to
- find your way in a Russian environment
- Assist in preliminary searches for documents and sources
- Facilitate communication
- Enhance your travel experience
- Reward your curiosity
- Know for sure whether taking a full-size Russian language course is for you
Built around the concept that a fun and pleasant experience enhances learning, Basics of Russian introduces the foundational elements of the language, from alphabet and pronunciation, to simple grammar and forms of address.
It is a self-paced and comprehensive course that will allow you to cover the material as quickly or as steadily as you need. The one-time subscription give you perpetual access to the course, including updates and revisions if and when they happen.
You can return and review the material as many times as you wish, take the quizzes and challenges as many times as you like, keep the knowledge fresh, and decide later if you want to expand on it with a more traditional language course.
Additional specialized premium modules will become available in the future depending on student's requirements and by request.
Your Instructor
Masha Holl speaks several languages and has been teaching everything Russian for almost 30 years: a lot of language, but also culture, folklore, literature, and cinema.
She has been developing courses at the college level for over 20 years, from the basic lecture to the full, semester-long, credit-awarding course. Even so, every semester, students surprise her with unexpected questions and new insights into old material and familiar subjects.
Russian is her native language, and her family's story illustrates the history of Russia since before the 1917 revolution to the present day.
In her spare time, she likes to create multimedia scenes illustrating folk stories, tend her garden in spite of the South Texas sun, and spoil her dog.