Introduction and acknowledgments

Welcome to “Learning Russian Through Films”!

This textbook emerged from the materials used during A2-B1 Russian proficiency courses at the University of Groningen. In the language classroom, films were used as a source of authentic language: collocations or ‘chunks’. We combined task-based, content- and film-integrated language learning approaches, so that students explore the content and language without an explicit grammar focus. This teaching practice has been inspired by Marjolijn Verspoor, who introduced FLIL into L2 pedagogy at Groningen. Films and video clips are thus not auxiliary tools but the cornerstone of the language learning journey. The students study Russian by watching film fragments and focusing on the vocabulary. They discuss film content and discuss its key themes. They also role-play the film dialogues, trying to imitate the intonation and bring the character to life, like real actors do. Pre- and post-tasks help students acquire key vocabulary and grasp cultural aspects, essential for understanding the film episodes.

The textbook uses such classic Soviet films as ‘Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears’, ‘The Irony of Fate’ and ‘Office Romance’, which visualise everyday life in the Soviet Union from the 1950s to the 1980s. Each chapter opens with an introduction to a particular topic (life and biography,  housing, style and fashion, gender stereotypes, free time and feasts) with further reading tips. Students then read a short introduction of the film in Russian and watch the film on their own, making notes on suggested content-related questions and then compare their answers in class. They then focus on several key scenes from the film: rewatch them, learn vocabulary via such exercises as completing gaps and sentences, finding synonyms and/or antonyms, using flashcards etc. The final task of every chapter encourages them to apply and personalize their understanding of the cultural content by creating vlogs, engaging in role-plays and impersonating characters from the film.

We hope that you will enjoy this language learning journey!

Sincerely,

Dina de Vries-Zhuravleva and Yuliya Kazanova

Acknowledgments

We express our heartfelt gratitude to Marjolijn Verspoor for her creative ideas and inspiration.

We would also like to thank Marije Michel for her constant support throughout the project and Elizaveta Gaufman for her generous help and advice.

Last but not least, we are grateful for the technical support from the University library team.