Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

RUS 101 is the first quarter of a three quarter First year Russian sequence and is for students who are beginners or who have very little experience with Russian. If you are unsure if RUS 101 is the right level course for you, please email Professor Kristine Shmakov at kshmakov@pcc.edu to take a placement test.

Class structure: RUS 101 is a remote online class that meets over Zoom for our class sessions twice a week on the days and times listed in the schedule. During our Zoom classes together, I’ll teach you Russian vocabulary and grammar and we’ll practice together as a class and in breakout rooms with a partner to maximize the time you get practicing. The course will be taught in full Russian immersion, so you’ll hear and speak Russian as much as possible. It’s a great and super effective way to learn a language! Gaining basic speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills is the primary goal of this class, and we’ll have fun practicing together while incorporating cultural components, lively activities, games, and music…all in Russian! Learning a language requires making thousands of mistakes and our classroom will be a safe and encouraging environment to make those mistakes and receive support as you learn Russian. Camera usage is an important part of building our language learning community, so we can all see each other speaking and use body language to help us communicated and stay in Russian. Make sure you have a working webcam and microphone for participating in this class.

Attendance requirements: This class meets live over Zoom twice a week. Attendance at the first class of the week is always required. For the second class each week students have two choices: 1) Either attend the live Zoom class or 2) watch a 2-hour pre-recorded asynchronous teaching/activity video and submit audio recordings of all the oral video activities and the written activities before coming to class the following week to receive a participation grade. Attendance at the second Zoom class of the week is strongly encouraged, and it’s much more fun than watching a video and recording yourself! But those who can’t regularly attend twice a week will still be able to learn Russian and do well in the course by completing activities in the asynchronous class videos instead. This can allow you to fit learning Russian into your schedule if you have work conflicts.

Time commitment: You’ll need to budget 7-8 hours a week for this course to be successful: 3 hours and 50 minutes attending class twice a week, and an additional 3-4 hours studying and completing two homework assignments per week.

Textbook requirements: There are both a textbook and a homework book for this course. All students are required to purchase the homework from the PCC Sylvania Bookstore for $30. The same homework book will be used for RUS 102 and 103, so this is a one time purchase.

You also must have our first-year Russian textbook “Welcome,” which is available in two formats. 1) You may use a free downloadable pdf of the textbook that will be posted on the RUS 101 D2L page. It’s a 700-page pdf and can be cumbersome to use while attending class on Zoom. We’ll also be writing in it regularly, so you may prefer a hard copy. But, this pdf version is free! 2) Students who would prefer to buy a hard copy of the textbook, so that they can write in it and use it more easily while attending class on Zoom, can purchase it from the PCC Sylvania Bookstore for $102. We will use this textbook for RUS 102 and 103 too. If you can afford the textbook, I encourage you to purchase it, since it’s easier to use a hard copy. But, if you need to save money, you can use the free pdf.

In addition, there’s an optional learner’s Russian dictionary you can purchase at the Sylvania Bookstore, but you don’t really need it for RUS 101. You will need lined notebook paper for completing your written homework assignments.

Student success: Students who have taken our remote Zoom Russian classes really enjoy interacting as a class and with partners during breakout rooms and getting immediate feedback from me during class. They also appreciate the video attendance option for the second class of the week, if they have a work conflict. Students in our remote classes consistently attain the same levels of oral, written, and listening proficiency as they do in on campus in-person classes. This isn’t surprising because everything about the remote Zoom Russian courses is the same as with in-person classes, except we meet over Zoom instead of in a classroom on campus. You can find more information about the PCC Russian program at: pcc.edu/programs/russian.

PCC Russian program: The 2025-2026 academic year is the last year that PCC will be offereing first year Russian RUS 101, 102, 103. During the 2026-2027 academic year, only second year Russian RUS 201, 202, 203 will be offered, so that students who complete first year Russian this year can still take two full years of Russian at PCC. The PCC administration has decided to eliminate the Russian program in July 2027 due to budget cuts, despite the Russian program being a thriving program with large enrollments the last 32 years. If you are interested in beginning to learn Russian, then this is the year to do it! Do not miss your chance!

Please email me at kshmakov@pcc.edu if you have any questions about the course. I am looking forward to starting our Russian language journey together and working with you this fall!

Microphone and web camera required.