The Cactus Course Outlines provide a learning framework for the Cactus Foreign Language Evening Courses. They are designed to provide you with a good idea of what you might cover over a 10-week period, and include typical themes, grammar and vocabulary fields. They are flexible rather than prescriptive, in that our teachers may decide to adapt their learning plans to the specific level, aims and interests of their classes.

• Russian Level 1
• Russian Level 2
• Russian Level 3
• Russian Level 4

Themes/Lexical fields can include the following elements:

• Introductions – inc. origin, family, relatives
• Jobs
• Everyday objects
• Arriving at the airport, going through the customs
• Places – shops, ticket-offices, important buildings
• Finding your way around a Russian town
• Likes & dislikes, hobbies
• Ordering food in a Russian restaurant
• Time – hours, days of the week, months

Grammar

• Gender of nouns
• Personal and possessive pronouns
• Present – 1st and 2nd conjugations
• Past – imperfective
• Grammatical cases – Genitive, Prepositional, Accusative
• Singular vs. Plural
• Negative and interrogative sentences
• Giving instructions – using the imperative

Other vocabulary

• Alphabet
• Key prepositions
• Key functions – invitation, borrowing, refusal, enquiry
• Key verbs (imperfective infinitives)
• Key adjectives/adverbs – size, shape, age, speed
• Numbers 1-100
• Polite words – please, thank you etc.
• Simple Directions
• Key linking words (and, but, then, or)

And...

• Reading rules
• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation – key sounds, intonation

Themes/Lexical fields can include the following elements:

• Talking about self & others, inc. family – key personal info
• Jobs
• Travel – business trips and holidays
• Hotels - enquiries on the phone, expressing complaints
• Russian food and drinks
• Leisure Time and hobbies
• Daily routine
• Town or city, main places of interest
• Theatre, understanding a theatre programme
• Sports and games
• Home – facilities, rooms, furniture

Grammar

• Review & practise level 1 grammar (eg. through mixed tense work – present/past)
• Reflexive verbs and their conjugation
• Some irregular verbs
• Intransitive verb ‘нравиться’ – ‘to please’
• Grammatical cases – Nominative, Genitive,
  Prepositional, Accusative, Dative, Instrumental
• Plural of Adjectives
• Declension of personal pronouns
• Impersonal expressions from adjectives

Other vocabulary

• Review & practise level 1 vocab (eg. through dialogue creation and role-plays) &
• Prepositions of place
• Prepositions of movement
• Numbers above 100
• Countries and languages
• Time phrases – adverbs of frequency
• Who/which/what/how/when/where/how much/many
• Adjectives & adverbs of manner
• Common feelings & emotions

And...

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening
• Pronunciation – key sounds, intonation

Themes/Lexical fields can include the following elements:

• Talking about self & others, inc. family – key personal info: job, age, place of work and living etc.
• Travel
• Leisure time and hobbies
• Eating/drinking
• Money, changing currency and shopping
• Weather and climate
• Meetings and making arrangements
• Health/illness, describing symptoms
• Telling the time with minutes to and from the hour
• Making phone calls

Grammar

• Review & practise level 2 grammar (eg. through mixed tense work – present/past)
• Review and practise declension of singular nouns &
• Future Perfective and Imperfective
• Comparative/superlative of adjectives
• Declension of Plural Nouns
• Declension of Adjectives
• Declension of Numbers in the Genitive Case
• Ordinal Numerals

Other vocabulary

• Review & practise level 2 vocab (eg. through dialogue creation and role-plays) &
• Prepositions of movement, time and place
• 'Что' with subordinate clauses
• Word families (noun-verb-adjective-adverb)
• Time phrases
• Who/which/what/how/when/where/how much/many
• Opening/ closing words for business letters and emails
• Colours and sizes

And...

• Lots of speaking/active practice/role-plays
• Lots of listening

Themes/Lexical fields can include the following elements:

• Russian cities and towns – places of interest
• Russian standard of living
• Problems – expressing them, finding the solution
• Travelling in Russia – plane, train and boat
• Describing people
• Work and qualifications
• Reading papers and magazines
• Tours and excursions
• Seeing off friends
• Personal Anecdotes

Grammar

• Review & practise previous level grammar (eg. through mixed tense/aspect work – present/past/future)
• Review & practise declension of nouns and adjectives (eg. through mixed grammatical cases work) &
• Present/Past Perfect
• Use of different prefixes to form perfectives with different meanings
• Animate Accusative Case
• Conditional Sentences with the particle ‘бы’
• Particle ‘ли’ used for ‘whether’
• Negative expressions
• Declension of pronouns
• Subordinate Clauses

Other vocabulary

• Review & practise previous level vocab (eg. through dialogue creation and role-plays) &
• More verbs of motion
• Common idioms and proverbs
• Animal
• Number & quantity
• Common linking words
• Formal words for business letters
• Wider range of functions – inc. social language, giving advice, ordering, booking, making enquiries

And...

• Lots of speaking/active practice
• Lots of listening