Our programs are written by our pedagogical team and are based not only on the recommendations of the Common European Framework, but also on the experience gained by our team in more than 20 years of teaching foreign languages.
These programs have been approved by the Department of Education of the City of Moscow, which has issued CREF the license allowing us to provide the official attestation of results to our students.
For group classes, we follow the general Russian curricula, adapted according to the teacher’s recommendations in accordance to the group’s needs.
For individual courses, we create an individualized curriculum for each student, based on his or her starting level, learning history, and goals and objectives.
The breakdown of our course cycles follows the CEFR (The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) as well as the framework of international tests of Russian.
Course of Russian as foreign language
“Survival” level.
This level is divided into two cycles of 40 academic hours that can be attended at an intensive pace (20 academic hours/week) or at an extensive pace (6 academic hours/week). We recommend you not to take too long breaks between those two cycles.
The course is based on the manual “Dialogue” developed by our teams at Cref Language Center. In addition to this manual, some elements may be added by the teacher, particularly from the manual “A Living Russian Grammar Level 1”.
The course is split into 11 parts, based on the Units of the manual. Every Unit is worked on in a chronological order.
Unit 0 : Introduction to Russian phonetics “ВВОДНО-ФОНЕТИЧЕСКИЙ КУРС”
After you complete the course, you will be able to:
- Say “Hello”.
- Get to know someone.
- Read a text in Russian.
- Ask questions such as Кто это? Что это? Где? (Who is it? What is it? Where is it?) and answer simply.
To this end, you will learn:
Writing forms and phonetics
- Alphabet
- Reading and pronunciation rules
Grammar
- Animate and inanimate nominative.
- Gender and number of nominative nouns.
- Nominative personal pronouns.
Vocabulary
- Public places: Kremlin, museums, theatres, embassy, shops.
- Professions.
- Numbers from 0 to 10.
- Days of the week.
Unit 1: Hello! “ЗДРАВСТВУЙТЕ!”
After you complete the course, you will be able to:
- Thank and answer a thanking.
- Apologize and answer excuses.
- Ask and indicate to whom belongs an object.
To this end, you will learn:
Grammar
- Possessive pronouns in the nominative.
- Personal pronouns in the accusative: “Меня зовут Иван”.
Vocabulary
- Furniture and objects in the house.
- Numbers from 11 to 19.
- Good, bad, …
Unit 2: What is your profession? “КТО ВЫ ПО ПРОФЕССИИ?”
After you complete the course, you will be able to:
- Tell your profession.
- Give your age.
- Tell where you are and where you work.
To this end, you will learn:
Grammar
- Personal pronouns in the dative: “Ему 40 лет”.
- Nouns in the genitive: “Я из Франций”.
- Nouns.
- Verbs of the 1st group in the present tense.
Vocabulary
- Cities and countries.
- Workplace: company, police, factory.
- Verbs: to know, to think, to do, to work.
- Numbers from 20 to 100.
Unit 3: Do you have a family? “У ВАС ЕСТЬ СЕМЬЯ?”
After you complete the course, you will be able to:
- Talk about your family.
- Tell where you live and give your address.
- Know how to say “I speak English” “Я говорю по-английски”.
- Tell where you study and what you are studying.
Grammar
- Personal pronouns and nouns (genitive): I have a passport”У меня есть паспорт”.
- Ivan does not have a passport “У меня есть паспорт”.
- Nouns (prepositional): I live in Moscow “Я живу в Москве”
- Adverbs: in Russian, in English, …
- Adjectives: Russian, Spanish, …
- Verb: to study.
Vocabulary
- Family: wife, husband, brother, sister, …
- Address: street, square, …
- Verbs: to read, to write, to understand, to speak, to study, to learn.
- Languages: Russian, Spanish, English, …
Unit 4: What did you do yesterday? What are you going to do tomorrow? “ЧТО ВЫ ДЕЛАЛИ ВЧЕРА? ЧТО ВЫ БУДЕТЕ ДЕЛАТЬ ЗАВТРА?”
After you complete this course, you will be able to:
- Tell where you were yesterday, what you were doing and at what time.
- Tell about your plans: What you will do tomorrow/on Saturday/ in January…
Grammar
- Verbs (past tense): Yesterday, I worked “Вчера я работал”. On Wednesday, I had a meeting “В среду у меня было собрание”.
- Verbs (future tense): Tomorrow, I will work “Завтра я буду работать”. In June, I will have a vacation “В июне у меня будет отпуск”.
- Nouns (prepositional) and prepositions “at”/”in” I was at work in the office “Я был на работе в офисе”.
- Noun (prepositional): In January, etc.
- Nouns (in the accusative): this Saturday, etc.
Unit 5: How much is it? “СКОЛЬКО ЭТО СТОИТ?”
After you complete this course, you will be able to:
- Ask information about a product in a shop: its colour, size, quantity and price.
- Describe an object.
Grammar
- Demonstrative pronouns (nominative, accusative)
- Inanimate nouns (accusative): I bought a magazine, a newspaper and a book.
- Adjectives (m, n, f, pl)
- Nouns (genitive): 2 kg, 5 kg
- Adjectives (accusative)
Vocabulary
- ruble, gram, kilogram.
- souvenirs: key ring, magnet, …
- book, magazine, newspaper, manual, …
- food, fruits, vegetables.
- Adjectives: new – old, big – small, …
- Colours: red, blue, green, …
- Numbers: 200, 300, …
- Verbs: to buy, to show, to give (imperative).
Unit 6: Where is the bank? “ГДЕ НАХОДИТСЯ БАНК?”
After you complete this course, you will be able to:
- Give an address.
- Direct someone, where he/she has to go, which means of transport to use.
- Find your way in a city (ask where the underground is, the pharmacy, where to go, …).
- Find your way in the metro (buy a ticket, understand the announcements in the metro and the metro map).
- Book a taxi on the internet, start a conversation with the driver (for example, tell where you live, where you want to go, show your building).
Grammar
- Adjectives (prepositional): On the Sretensky boulevard “На Сретенском бульваре”.
- Verbs of movement идти, ехать : I’m going to the park “Я иду в парк”. I’m going to Souzdal by train. “Я еду в Суздаль на поезде”.
- Nouns (genitive): in front of the house, not far from the office, to the left, to the right of the pharmacy.
Vocabulary
- Means of transport: metro, bus, …
- Adverbs: left, right, …
- Ticket, station, change trains, …
- Ordinal numbers: first, second, third, fourth, …
Unit 7: Do you want to go to the restaurant? “ВЫ ХОТИТЕ ПОЙТИ В РЕСТОРАН?”
After you complete this course, you will be able to:
- Tell what you like (or not) to eat and drink.
- Tell what you eat and drink for breakfast, lunch, diner.
- Order a meal in a restaurant.
- Invite a friend to the restaurant.
- Accept or decline an invitation.
- Book a table in a restaurant by telephone.
Grammar
- Nouns (instrumental): with who? with what? “с кем? с чем?”
- Nouns (genitive) in the singular: without what? без чего?
Vocabulary
- Verbs: to like, to eat, to drink, to want, …
- Food and drinks.
- For breakfast, lunch, diner.
Unit 8: What do you like? “ЧТО ВАМ НРАВИТСЯ?”
After you complete this course, you will be able to:
- Tell what kind of music, literature, film you like.
- Tell what you like the most and least: Who is your favourite composer, actor, …
- Tell what you like to do during your free time, where do you go on weekends, what instrument you play, what sport you practice.
- Buy a ticket at the ticket office of the theatre, the concert hall, …
Grammar
- Personal pronouns (dative): I like jazz “Мне нравится джаз”.
- Adverbs: always, often, rarely, sometimes, never.
- Comparative degrees of adverbs: more, less, …
- Ordinal numbers.
Vocabulary
- Culture, arts, sports and leisure.
- Verbs: to look, to listen, to surf (on the internet), play guitar, tennis, to skate,…
- Verb of movement: to walk.
Unit 9: Where did you go? Where were you? “Куда вы ездили? Где вы были?”
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Tell where you were: where to go/where you went.
- Tell what you did first, what you did afterwards.
- Tell what you liked.
- Tell where you’re going to go “куда я поеду или пойду”.
- Start a conversation with a salesman in a shop: “Clothes, shoes”.
- Wish a happy birthday to a friend.
Grammar
- Verbs of movement: walk/go (past tense), go (future tense).
- Nouns (dative) with preposition or without preposition: I’m going to a friend. I gave a watch to my friend. “Я иду к другу. Я подарил другу часы.”
- Modal verbs: I have to, I need to, …
Vocabulary
- Verbs: to walk, to ride, to go, to give, to take.
- Clothes and shoes: pullover, jacket, boots,…
- First, then.
- Winter, autumn.
Unit 10: What happened? “ЧТО СЛУЧИЛОСЬ?”
After you complete this course, you will be able to:
- Talk about the weather.
- Tell how you feel, tell if you feel pain somewhere.
- Start a conversation with the pharmacist or a doctor in a hospital.
- Describe your apartment, situate it.
- Call the owner and explain the problem in the apartment.
Grammar
- Structure: Yesterday it was cold “Вчера было холодно”.
- Structure: once a day, twice a week “один раз в день, два раза в неделю”
- Nouns (genitive) with preposition “от”: cough syrup “сироп от кашля”
- Structure with dative: I have to… I can’t… I can… “Мне нужно… Мне нельзя…Мне можно…”.
Vocabulary
- Weather.
- Parts of the body.
- Drugs.
- Apartment, furniture.
- Verbs: to be sick, to take medicine/drugs/pills, to be tired, to sleep, to help, to show, to call.