Summer Russian at University of Chicago

Course News

January 12, 2010
Welcome to the website for the University of Chicago Summer Russian Program in 2010!

Full course descriptions are included below. It is very useful for us to gauge possible enrollments early on in order to confirm the courses (4 students are required as a minimum for course approval). If you do have an interest in one of the summer language courses or any questions about the program, please contact Steven Clancy <sclancy@uchicago.edu> for more information. Please mention which course you are interested in and whether you will POSSIBLY, LIKELY, or DEFINITELY enroll in the course this summer. We also encourage you to officially enroll in the course as soon as you can to ensure that we have a sufficient number of students as early as possible.

At present there are (to be updated soon):
? potential students in 1st-year Russian;
? potential students in 2nd-year Russian;
? potential students in Simultaneous Interpretation

Introductory Russian (1st-year Russian)

RUSS 11100 Intensive Introduction to Russian Language and Culture 1
RUSS 11200 Intensive Introduction to Russian Langauge and Culture 2

PREREQUISITES: NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED. EQUIVALENT TO ELEMENTARY RUSSIAN (RUSS 10100-10200-10300).
This six-week course provides a comprehensive introduction to modern Russian for those who would like to speak Russian or use the language for reading and research. All four major communicative skills (reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking) are stressed. Students will also be introduced to Russian culture through readings, screenings, and city outings. The course provides a year of Russian in two 3-week summer quarter courses.

Class meets 3 hours daily, Monday-Friday (90 total contact hours). Students must take both courses in the sequence (11100-11200), and will be billed for two courses. This course is suitable for preparing students to satisfy the College Language Competency requirement. Students with FLAS fellowships require an additional 50 contact hours and are required to take RUSS 11300 "Intensive Elementary Russian Conversation and Reading". This course is optional for all other students. [Hyde Park] Sessions I-II (6 weeks) MTuWThF 9:30am-12:20pm

The course is taught by Steven Clancy and Staff. Steven Clancy is Senior Lecturer, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Course Cost: $2800 for academic credit per course or $1905 per course for auditors.

RUSS 11300 Intensive Elementary Russian Conversation and Reading

PREREQUISITES: NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED. STUDENTS MUST BE CONCURRENTLY ENROLLED IN RUSS 11100-11200. This six-week course provides practice in conversation, reading for research, and additional grammar drill complementing material covered in RUSS 11100-11200 "Intensive Introduction to Russian Language and Culture 1 and 2". All four major communicative skills (reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking) are stressed.

Class meets 2 hours daily, Monday-Thursday (50 total contact hours). There will be one Friday 2-hour session during the first week of class. Students must be concurrently enrolled in RUSS 11100-11200. This course is required for all students with FLAS fellowships and is optional for all other students. [Hyde Park] Sessions I-II (6 weeks) MTWTh 1:00pm-2:50pm

The course is taught by Steven Clancy and Staff. Steven Clancy is Senior Lecturer, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Course Cost: $2800 for academic credit per course or $1905 per course for auditors.

Intermediate Russian (2nd-year Russian)

RUSS 20101 Intensive Intermediate Russian Language and Culture 1
RUSS 20201 Intensive Intermediate Russian Language and Culture 2

PREREQUISITES: RUSS 10100-10200-10300/RUSS 10400-10500-10600 OR ONE-YEAR KNOWLEDGE OF RUSSIAN REQUIRED. EQUIVALENT TO SECOND-YEAR RUSSIAN (RUSS 20100-20200-20300). This six-week course provides a comprehensive continuing course in modern Russian for those who would like to speak Russian or use the language for reading and research. All four major communicative skills (reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking) are stressed. Russian culture will be explored through readings, screenings, and city outings. The course provides a year of Russian in two 3-week summer quarter courses.

Class meets 3 hours daily, Monday-Friday (90 total contact hours). Students must take both courses in the sequence (20101-20201), and will be billed for two courses. Students with FLAS fellowships require an additional 30 contact hours and are required to take RUSS 20301 "Intensive Intermediate Russian Conversation and Reading". This course is optional for all other students. [Hyde Park] Sessions I-II (6 weeks) MTuWThF 9:30am-12:20pm

The course is taught by Steven Clancy and Robert Bird. Steven Clancy is Senior Lecturer, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures; and Robert Bird is Associate Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Course Cost: $2800 for academic credit per course or $1905 per course for auditors.

RUSS 20301 Intensive Intermediate Russian Conversation and Reading

PREREQUISITES: STUDENTS MUST BE CONCURRENTLY ENROLLED IN RUSS 20011-20012.

This six-week course provides practice in conversation, reading for research, and additional grammar drill complementing material covered in RUSS 20011-20012 "Intensive Intermediate Russian Language and Culture 1 and 2". All four major communicative skills (reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking) are stressed.

Class meets 2 hours daily, Monday-Thursday (50 total contact hours). There will be one Friday 2-hour session during the first week of class. Students must be concurrently enrolled in RUSS 20011-20012. This course is required for all students with FLAS fellowships and is optional for all other students. [Hyde Park] Sessions I-II (6 weeks) MTWTh 1:00pm-2:50pm

Course Cost: $2800 for academic credit per course or $1905 per course for auditors.

Simultaneous Interpretation (Russian-English, English-Russian)

RUSS 21700 Introduction to Interpretation (Russian-English, English-Russian)

PREREQUISITES: FLUENCY IN ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN. STUDENTS WITH NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE IN INTERPRETING WILL WORK FROM THEIR "WEAKER" LANGUAGE INTO THEIR STRONGER; STUDENTS WITH MORE PRACTICE (ADVANCED AND IMMERSION COURSES, TIME LIVING IN RUSSIA, RAISED IN RUSSIAN SPEAKING HOUSEHOLDS, ETC.) WILL PRACTICE BOTH WAYS. This course introduces students to the field of conference interpretation in general and to consecutive interpretation in particular. It emphasizes the ability to understand and analyze a message in the source language (Russian/English) and convey it in the target language (English/Russian) in a straightforward and clear manner. The course develops a student's ability to analyze and paraphrase the meaning of a passage in the source language, and to identify the passage's components and establish a logical relationship among them. Students will focus on active listening and concentration skills, memory enhancing techniques, and the ability to abstract information for subsequent recall. Basic elements of note-taking will be discussed as well. At the end of the course students will be able to interpret 3-5 minute extemporaneous passages on familiar topics. During practice sessions students will listen to and repeat the content of passages of increasing length and difficulty. Topics will cover daily life, current events and the media, as well as general areas of students' interest.

Class meets 3 hours daily, Monday-Friday (45 total contact hours). [Hyde Park] Session I (3 weeks) MTuWThF 9:30am-12:20pm

The course is taught by Valentina Pichugin, Senior Lecturer, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Course Cost: $2800 for academic credit per course or $1905 per course for auditors.

RUSS 21701 Intermediate Interpretation: Consecutive and Simultaneous (Russian-English, English-Russian)

PREREQUISITES: RUSS 21700 INTRODUCTION TO INTERPRETATION, OR EQUIVALENT; CONSENT OF THE INSTRUCTOR.

This course develops skills and improves techniques acquired in RUSS 21700 Introduction to Interpretation. In consecutive interpretation, the following will be emphasized: clarity of expression, correct style and grammar, proper diction and presentation, and strategies for dealing with cultural and linguistic problems. Students will expand their active vocabulary to include terms and idioms frequent in extemporaneous speeches. At the end of the course students will be able to interpret extemporaneous passages of moderate difficulty derived from professional settings (sources will vary). Basic strategies for simultaneous interpretation will be introduced, and exercises will be provided to help develop the concentration necessary for listening and speaking at the same time. The students will work to master voice management, and to acquire smooth delivery techniques. Students will learn to analyze discourse for meaning while rendering a coherent interpretation in the target language with correct grammar, diction and style. At the end of the course, students will be able to interpret 8-10 minute passages from public lectures, radio addresses, interviews, news reports, etc.

Class meets 3 hours daily, Monday-Friday (45 total contact hours). [Hyde Park] Session II (3 weeks) MTuWThF 9:30am-12:20pm

The course is taught by Valentina Pichugin, Senior Lecturer, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.

Course Cost: $2800 for academic credit per course or $1905 per course for auditors.

Student comments on the Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpretation Course

"The pace of this course was appropriate. I enjoyed the variety of interpretative exercises which included video, tape, and oral interpretation (that is translating a fellow classmate into the target language). Very good class!"

"The materials presented in this course were especially challenging — even intimidating — for me at first, and I was initially skeptical that I would be able to learn to interpret them. However, thanks to the skill of the instructor and the care she used in designing the course and working with the materials, by the end of three weeks I was surprised by how much I had learned and by how my language skills had improved. I would unconditionally recommend this course to any advanced (or possibly even intermediate) student of Russian who is planning to do any serious study in Russia."

"This course surpassed my expectations and was an extraordinary learning experience. Valentina [Pichugin] managed to teach for a group of students with varying levels of skill and comfort with Russian, and made sure that everyone was equally challenged. The course was rigorous, amazingly well organized, and extremely beneficial to me. Beyond extending the length of the course, I can't think of any way it could be improved."

"The pace of this course was appropriate. I also enjoyed the variety of media presented during class."

"This course is excellent. The variety of different translation techniques taught ensures both a really complete introduction to the questions a translator might encounter and also ensures that classes never get boring or repetitive. The textbook was quite comprehensive and the instructor did a great job adapting its general advice to Russian, which was the target language of translation. In addition to all the other technical elements of the course, Valentina [Pichugin] is an enthusiastic and talented teacher who helped us push ourselves in order to improve maximally. The course was really a pleasure and will help me in my professional life a great deal."