Fall 1997 Course Description
Beginning Russian Through Film started as an experiment
at Cornel's Department of Modern Languages in 1997-98.
Below you will find the syllabus that we used that first year.
It was revised later. Our current course descriptions and
syllabi can be found under
Russian 121
and Russian 122.
Materials
Interactive video:
Beginning Russian Through Film is a series of digital movies on CD-ROMs
and on our Web server to be used in conjunction with our
BRTF World Wide Web site.
Authored by Slava Paperno and
Viktoria Tsimberov,
with editorial assistance from Matthew Huss.
Books:
Beginning Russian, Second revised
edition by Leed, Nakhimovsky, and Nakhimovsky,
Slavica Publishers 1991
5000 Russian Words by Leed and S. Paperno, Slavica Publishers 1987
What I Saw by Boris Zhitkov, annotated by Leed and L. Paperno, Slavica Publishers 1988
Note: These books and videos cover Russian 121 and Russian 122
Audio tapes:
The first four tapes from the RLL series; each student must rent tapes from the department. The most important part of the homework during the first two weeks of the course is recording these tapes in the language lab in Noyes Lodge. Starting with week 3 or 4, you will use the language lab computers to make audio recordings, but you may also continue using audio tapes as an aoption. There is a fee of $15.00 for your first semester of lab use that will cover the RLL tape rental and all other types of lab use (such as printing your homework, word lists, etc.). The fee for any subsequent semester is $5.
Computer exercises:
Beginning Russian Quizzes in the language lab in Noyes Lodge.
Grading
If you do all homework assignments on time and reasonably well (this includes memorizing short dialogs,
when assigned for Monday and Tuesday), and don't miss more than one class, you'll get an A for the course.
The final exam will still take place for our own diagnostic purposes, but it will be given anonymously,
and the results will not affect your grade.
Note that Russian 103 may be taken simultaneously with this course for
additional credit.
Homework
All homework assignments are shown in the syllabus; doing them should take about one
and a half hours each day. Four days a week, most of the homework must be
done in the language lab. Written work includes three one-page Review
Papers over the semester; several "research papers" (explained below);
and two to four written exercises on some weeks; this
work is corrected, but not graded.
Homework comes in several varieties, all indicated in
the syllabus and explained below:
Watch and understand
Your first viewing of each series of the digital film clips will take place in
the lab in Noyes Lodge. Check out a CD-ROM at the counter and use a Windows or
Macintosh computer to log on to the Russian Web site. Consult the "About this
film" section in the film lesson for comments, explanations, or relevant historical
and cultural information.
As you watch the clips, read the dialog transcripts, and consult the
on-screen glosses. Make sure you understand the dialog and the events.
Do not try to memorize the vocabulary, but do try to imitate the actors' speech.
Write an English translation
Write or type an English translation of the dialog in the assigned clips. You may use the word processor that is provided in the Russian application group on the Windows and Macintosh computers. This word processor may be opened on the screen alongside the interactive video to make this work easier to manage.
Record
For some days, you will be making tape recordings in the RLL series:
you will be asked to imitate what you hear or to respond to questions as
prompted. Hand in your tape. Your teacher will review your recording and
make recommendations. Then you can return the tape to the lab and get more
tapes.
For other days, you'll record on one of the Windows computers in the language
lab and save your recordings as computer files. Your teacher will review
them and make recommendations in class or by e-mail.
To make an audio recording, start Sound Recorder and follow the printed
instructions in the carrel or consult the on-screen Help for the program.
Use the Save command from the File menu to save your work.
Save your files in the Russian.121 folder and use your Cornell e-mail ID
for the filename. The suffix .wav will be automatically added to the filename.
E.g., if your e-mail address is abc11@cornell.edu, type abc11 and click OK.
The file will be named abc11.wav. The following week, when making another
recording, use the same filename, thus overwriting last week's file.
Memorize
Try to make sure that you can repeat the assigned exchange from memory just as it sounds in the video.
Prepare exercises
Watch the relevant clips again (this should be at least your fifth viewing). Read the assigned exercises on the computer screen, consulting the on-screen glossary. The exercises usually ask you to substitute certain words in the clip's dialog with similar words from a list. Practice doing this (with a friend, if possible). If the syllabus indicates that an exercise should also be written down, write in cursive and leave room for the teacher's comments.
Read in Beginning Russian
Read the assigned sections and make sure you understand the grammatical terminology and explanations. Don't try to memorize anything.
Write from Beginning Russian
Do the written exercise(s) after reading all the grammar explanations. Write in cursive and leave room for the teacher's comments.
Do Beginning Russian Quizzes
Start the computer program called Beginning Russian Quizzes and
do the assigned quiz until your score is at least 90%.
You can "cheat," i.e. look at the grammar notes before typing your answer, or even look at the correct answers
first, and then do the quiz for real. The idea is to practice your Russian, not to pass a self-test.
Wear your headphones: hearing the sentences in the Quizzes is enormously helpful.
Write a paper
In the second part of the semester, you will write several "research papers."
These will probably be the most creative part of your work. Choose any of the clips suggested in the syllabus, or any other clip, whether it has already been covered in class or not. As an alternative, later in the semester you may also decide to choose a passage of text instead of a clip. Watch (or read) your selection and describe six different points that you find interesting.
Some of your six points should be the facts that you are certain about, and some may involve your own theories. These points may concern the use of Russian words, Russian grammar and intonation, accent, clothes, the personal behavior of the characters, the issues raised in the selection or the attitudes that are portrayed, etc. In other words, your six points may be purely linguistic or cultural/linguistic. Try to cover a wide range of facts over the semester.
Write in English (and use Russian quotes, when appropriate). These papers will be evaluated on the accuracy of your
observations, the relevance of your theories, and the breadth of your approach.
Do not write more than one page. Write in cursive or type. You may use the word processor provided in the Russian program group. Select a Russian font, such as Leed Russian, Leed Serif (Russian), or Leed Sans (Russian), and use the Russian keyboard program for typing the Russian portion of your text, if any.
Beginning Russian Through Film
The
Russian Language Program
e-mail
box for the Russian Language Program
Russian Language Program
Department of Modern Languages
Cornell University
Morrill Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-4701, USA
tel. 607/255-4087
fax 607/255-7491