Russian
Russian is spoken by over 215 million people throughout the former USSR and much of Eastern Europe. The dynamic state of Russia is of vital economic, political and cultural significance and the rich, diverse culture and landscape makes it a fascinating tourist destination. Few people however speak English so in order to get the most out of Russia, an understanding of the Russian language is essential.
A knowledge of Russian is highly regarded in many fields including journalism, industry, commerce, tourism and media. It is a language increasingly in demand by employers.
The results for Russian at Colston’s Girls’ School are excellent and students have been extremely successful in finding employment or securing a place in higher education. Many students have gone on to study it at University.
Studying Russian will give you the opportunities to access all these very exciting opportunities.
You can find below an outline of how Russian is taught at CGS.
Resources and Websites
- Kometa
- Iskra
- Ruslan
- www.memrise.com/
Extra Curricular
- Trips to Russia for all pupils
- Annual Russian Day
- Cinema visits to the Watershed to see Russian films
- Participation in the annual Russian essay writing competition
- Trips to the theatre to see Russian ballets and trips to the Russian circus in the UK
- Public speaking and music video competitions
Years 7 - 9
From day one in Year 7 students are starting to prepare for their Languages GCSE exams and follow a GCSE mastery curriculum. We aim to teach the following from the start of Year 7 so as to ensure all students become confident and enthusiastic linguists and master the skills required for GCSE:
- Literacy
- Numeracy
- Phonics
- Dictionary and verb table skills
- Vocabulary
- Spontaneous Speaking
- Grammar
- Extended Writing
- Authentic Listening
- Authentic Reading
- Memory skills
- Culture
Assessments
- Internal Asset Languages assessments
- Assessment at the end of each term
- External Asset Languages examination
Years 10 - 11
Year 11 – Legacy – 2016-17 only
AS Course content:
- Youth culture and concerns
- Lifestyle: health and fitness
- The world around us: travel, tourism, environmental issues and the Russian speaking world
- Education and employment.
AS Assessment
Unit 1: Speaking
- Conducted by teacher, 8−10 minutes and based on candidate choice, in advance, of one of four general topic areas.
- Discussion of a short text on the chosen topic – prepared for fifteen minutes before test – and this discussion is then extended.
Unit 2: Listening, Reading and Writing
- Non-verbal responses, questions and answers in Russian and English and writing in Russian (160 words).
- The Reading and Writing sections last 2 h 30.
A2 Course content:
- The four AS topics in greater depth
- Customs, traditions, beliefs and religions
- National and international events: past, present and future
- Literature and the arts
A2 Assessment
- Unit 3: a Speaking test with debate topic
- Unit 4: a writing exam with a research based assignment
Sixth Form
Why study Russian?
Learn the 6th most spoken language in the world! With 285 million speakers in the world, the Russian language is among the top 10 languages in the world and you can meet Russian speakers all around the world! Having the possibility to integrate into an expanding market: Russia is among the 10 strongest economies in the world and the market continues to grow. Thus, Russia has a great number of work and business opportunities. Russian looks great on your Curriculum Vitae.
Future Pathways
Russian is a facilitating subject that involves many different skills it is welcomed by all Russell Group Universities.
Recent Exam Success
Every student in from the 2014 A Level class achieved between an A* and a B with one student gaining entry to Oxford University to study Russian.
