Introductions

Well, the last post details why you should come to class.  Now, time to tell you a little about myself and what we will be tackling in the first weeks of class.

COMRADE BIO:

My name is Tim, and I am 25 years old.  I am from a small town in southern Wisconsin.  Interestingly enough, I have no Russian heritage that I am aware of.  As evidenced by the last sentence, I enjoy a casual relationship with the stickier points of English grammar.  But I love to read and I love to speak Russian.

I learned the Cyrillic alphabet on a school trip to Cherkasy, Ukraine in August of 2003.  Since then, I have cultivated a deep, inexplicable love for Slavic languages and cultures.  I studied Russian for 3 years at DePaul University and for 2 years at Loyola (both in Chicago), learned basic Czech while studying at Univerzita Karlova in Prague, and picked up a little Polish both in Krakow and on Chicago's north side.  And here's the rub - I'm losing all of these wonderful skills at an alarming rate.  That's part of the reason I want to teach this class; I can build up my own waning skills while helping others begin to cultivate their own.

During class, you may call me Timofey Lansovich or tovarish (comrade), based on your comfort level.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE (TENTATIVELY):

1.  Week one will focus solely on the alphabet.  We will learn both the printed and script versions of the letters, as Russian is almost exclusively written in cursive.  Please bring pens and papers, writing skills begin this week as well.  Expect spelling games, alphabet songs, etc.  Oh, and I'm guessing we'll take at least 20 minutes learning how to say hello.
2.  Review of the alphabet and written letters will be key in subsequent lessons.  From there, we will learn basic greetings and conversation, both formal and non.  First vocab lists will begin to surface - homework time!
3.  Depending on class size and consistency, we will continue to review our lessons with games and dialogues.  Then it's time for parts of speech, cases, and the treatment of gendered nouns.

MORE TO COME AS I DRAFT LESSON PLANS!  YPA!!

(and for your listening pleasure...)