The Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University
Russian: Syllabus for Advanced level - Post-proficiency - 2001- 2002 Course number 301 Course description The main goal of this course is to perfect speaking skills on the level of paragraphed narration with elements of supported opinion. Students will learn to describe and narrate events of the past, present and future on international affairs. Journalistic styles and subtleties of syntax are examined. Goal Speaking First semester Intermediate High Plus to Advanced in the areas of
professional expertise. Second semester Advanced for politics, national security and socio-
economics as areas of particular strength. Proficiency level description. Able to speak in paragraphs. Can conduct political discussions expressing an opinion, shifting to new subjects, quoting sources, etc. The content includes highly diversified themes connected with areas of professional strength. Goal Reading First semester Advanced Low Plus to Advanced Mid in the areas of
professional expertise. Second semester Advanced Mid for politics, national security and socio-
economics. Contents. Reading materials mostly include editorials. Students are taught strategies necessary to be able to read between the lines. Reading materials include feature-length articles of editorial character. Goal Listening First semester Advanced Plus to Advanced Low with political "hot-house
special." Second semester Advanced Low with political "hot-house special." Contents. Listening materials primarily represent news analysis and
interviews. Grammatical accuracy Students should have achieved a level of
grammatical accuracy that guarantee
comprehension by a native listener not used to
dealing with foreigners. Work with grammar is
limited to achieving partial control in distribution
and total control in reading of several difficult but,
nevertheless, frequently-used Russian
constructions. These are: - Short forms of adjectives versus long forms
- Detached attributes
- adjectival
- participial
- verbal adverbial
- Emphatic Imperatives
The use of the second person singular with the subject
ТЫ omitted, in order to express a condition in the future. - Infinitive used as a predicate
- Conjunction БУДТО (БЫ)
Materials: Simes, N. Years of Change: Reading the
Russian Press, Second Edition, Kendall/Hunt
Publishing Company, 1997 Tapes for the book
Russian TV interviews
A large collection of Soviet and Russian movies is
at the students’ .disposal
| 
