Russian students can choose between a traditional classroom setting and self-paced study. In self-paced study, students work independently using specially-designed self-instructional materials, and proceed at their own speed. At the end of each unit, the student meets one-on-one with a trained instructor for a homework check, conversation practice, and exam. These meetings help keep the student on track, and ensure that the student is progressing in his/her knowledge of Russian.
Students earn credit one semester hour at a time. As soon as the student passes a unit test at a grade of 80% or better, he/she is permitted to go on to the next unit. Unit grades accumulate to form the semester grade. A student may earn as few as 2 credit hours in one semester, with no upper limit.
Students may transfer from self-paced learning to the classroom track, or vice versa, as long as they have earned all credits for the preceding course in the sequence. For instance, a student who has earned all four credits for Russian 1101.51 (Elementary Russian 1, Self-Paced Track), may choose to enroll for Russian 1102.01 (Elementary Russian 2, Classroom Track), or continue in the self-paced track. Students who have earned fewer than four credits for 1101.51 may not enroll for 1102.01 (or 1102.51, unless simultaneously enrolled for the remaining 1101.51 credits).
For courses that are available in the self-paced track, see the Russian course listings.
For more information about self-paced Russian, stop by the Learning Center at 120 Hagerty Hall during office hours or phone the Center for Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (292-7060) or the Slavic Department office (292-6733).