RUSS GU4127

I became much more confident in my speaking and writing abilities. I was previously a shy speaker, but through Marina Nikolaevna's constant encouragement and support, I became more comfortable learning how to speak Russian. She also focused on giving my speech greater structures, and we practiced how to condense language into good formulas. This was especially helpful because I often got stuck, not knowing how to arrange words into the right syntax, but her exercises made me much more fluent.

I greatly increased my level of spoken and written Russian. This class gave me the space to develop my language skills without judgment or stress, which greatly and positively impacted my learning experience

This course is all about polish and finishing. I came in with a decent level of Russian (conversationally competent, completed through 4th year Russian at Columbia) and this class is the first I have taken that is focused more on content than on point-blank language acquisition. As such, I had to really work to refine my conversational skills and focus more on the bigger picture while still using the finer details I already had. Working with a framework that forced me to leverage cohesion AND coherence was the thing that helped me improve my language skills the most.

I learned how to discuss my preferences about music as well as discuss a wide variety of social, historical and political issues. I learned a lot of adjectives to describe emotions, moods, and feelings, which I found very helpful, since I think my vocabulary prior to this class was relatively basic/lacking in descriptive language.

Russian language skills, structure of thought in writing, russian history, music history, russian culture and pop culture

Learned a lot about Russian culture, history and important perspectives about the music of the past 5 decades. Also developed academic writing and speaking, and presentation skills. I feel more confident in analyzing academic texts and structuring my own thoughts for more formal conversations.

Reading, writing, comprehension, and speaking in Russian. Russian music and culture.

i learned a lot of very valuable skills in presenting, writing, and reading in Russian. Also, critical listening skills with music!

I learned so much about the way that the historical experiences of different generations in Russia shaped the values held by each respective generation, and in turn how these values are reflected in the music that different generations listen to. I really enjoyed gaining these new perspectives and feel like I know a lot more about the culture and society of Russia since World War II.

THIS CLASS ROCKS. Do not be afraid if you've only had 3 years of Russian--it is suitable for that language level, and if you need help, Tsylina will gladly offer it. It has been just about the best Russian language course I have taken at this school, and I have been through all 4 years of CU's Russian-language program. TAKE. THIS. CLASS!