In my teaching, I present Russian as a language that connects diverse cultures across many countries, while also acknowledging its historical spread through political and imperial imposition. By incorporating examples of Russian as it is spoken, adapted, and localized in various post-Soviet regions, I encourage students to see Russian as a language with distinct regional identities and histories, rather than one defined exclusively by Russia itself.

While teaching American students in an intensive summer language program at the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, I deliberately integrated the Kyrgyz context into daily language practice. Rather than relying solely on Russian-centric vocabulary and cultural references, I designed exercises grounded in Kyrgyz culture and everyday life to create a more immersive and locally situated learning experience. For example, while a standard textbook might use borshch so smetanoi to teach the Instrumental Case, manty s baraninoi serves the same grammatical purpose while reflecting Central Asian foodways. This approach helps students recognize how Russian functions as a shared but locally inflected language across non-Russian regions.

Similarly, in my literature and culture courses, I aim to move beyond the traditional Russian canon by introducing works by marginalized voices within Russian-speaking societies. This pedagogical choice is essential for helping students understand Russian-language culture as a complex and heterogeneous landscape that includes Indigenous and minority perspectives. I am currently developing a course focused on the cultures of Indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Russian North, which encourages students to critically examine assumptions of Russian cultural homogeneity and to rethink the boundaries of the Russian-speaking world.

Having taught at both liberal arts colleges and research institutions, I am experienced in working with students across a range of class sizes and learning environments. At the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, I tailored lessons for international students progressing from beginner to upper-intermediate levels, often drawing on their own cultural backgrounds to foster engagement. By the end of the second semester, students completed multimedia projects focused on non-central regions of Russia, reinforcing their language skills while highlighting internal diversity within Russian-speaking communities.

In teaching Russian language and culture, I regularly incorporate visual and audio materials, including art, music, film, and virtual museum tours, to contextualize historical events, cultural practices, and literary texts. Using a communicative approach, I balance structured instruction with discussion-based and interactive activities. My goal is to guide students toward understanding Russian as a dynamic, multi-dimensional language that reflects diverse histories, identities, and lived experiences across a broad cultural landscape.

8 October 2025

Lesson Plan

Audience: Russian Foreign Language students at UIUC
Learner Level: Novice Low (ACTFL)
Class Size: 16
Class Length: 50 minutes

Terminal Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify and use vocabulary related to family members in Russian.

• Use possessive pronouns appropriately when describing family relationships.

• Introduce their family members and say who someone is in relation to them.

Enabling Objectives

To achieve the terminal objectives, students will:

• Recognize and recall family-related vocabulary introduced in Section 2.1 of Mezhdu Nami.

• Practice describing family members in short sentences using correct possessive pronouns (e.g., моя мама, его брат).

• Respond to simple questions about family relationships (e.g., Кто это? Это твоя сестра?) in pair and group activities.

• Interpret information from short listening exercises related to family vocabulary.

• Create and present a simple family tree with labeled members using learned vocabulary.

Materials and Technologies

• Mezhdu Nami website

• Mezhdu Nami workbook

• Family members' images handout, family tree handout

• PPT slides

• Computer, projector, tablets, white/black board, chalk, markers.

Schedule of Time

Attendance & Administration

• Take attendance and distribute graded chapter tests.

5 minutes – Review

• Address any questions about the chapter test, based on teacher comments.

5 minutes – Warm-up (whole class)

• Show the painting Семья (1907) by Сергей Васильевич Иванов (App.1.1)

• Ask students to read the painter’s full name (Имя, Отчество, Фамилия) from the slide. Reiterate previously learned questions such as: Как зовут его отца? Где здесь фамилия? To engage the entire class, invite students to identify the family names and first names of the individuals depicted in the painting. For an added challenge, have learners provide the children’s patronymics. This activity reinforces earlier material on Russian naming conventions, including both male and female patronymics.

• Ask what the painting is called and what the word means.

• Use the painting to elicit family member vocabulary through Q&A: Кто это, слева? – Это отец. Это его дочь? – Нет, это его сын.

10 minutes – Listening practice (whole class)

• Aims to review basic family vocabulary.

• Learners complete Exercise 2.1, Задание 1: the teacher reads slides from the textbook website; students match words accordingly.

• Checking together.

10 minutes – Pair work (“Guess who I am”)

• Students receive a printed family tree of the textbook characters, for reference (App.1.2).

• Teacher distributes character images from that family tree (2–3 per student) (App.1.3).

• The idea is that students describe the character on their card without naming the person, practicing phrases such as: Мария Ивановна — это моя мама. Their partner then has to guess who the person is. If students know how to “russify” their own names (American, Mexican, Chinese, etc.), they can also create patronymics and use them when introducing their families.

• Students take turns practicing.

15 minutes – Individual + Pair work

• Students draw their own family tree, labeling family members.

• Students then work with a partner, asking and answering questions about their family trees: Кто это? Это её сестра? etc.

• If time allows, some students can share their dialogs with the rest of the class.

5 minutes – Wrap-up (whole class)

• Address any final questions.

• Clarify lingering confusion about vocabulary or possessive pronouns.

Appendix 1.1 Семья (1907) by Сергей Васильевич Иванов 

Appendix 1.2 Family tree handout 

Appendix 1.3 Characters for the game

Lesson from October 8, 2025

Overall, I think this class went really well. The students seemed engaged and interested throughout most of the activities. They enjoyed the warm-up with the painting by Sergey Ivanov, it was a good way to get them thinking about family vocabulary in context and also to introduce a bit of cultural content. The listening activity with Mezhdu Nami went smoothly, and I noticed that students were able to recognize most of the key words without much hesitation.

The pair activity with the “Guess who I am” worked especially well. Students were laughing, asking follow-up questions, and using possessive pronouns more confidently. I think the structure of the class of moving from recognition to production helped them feel more prepared by the time they got to creating their own family trees.

If I were to change something, I would probably manage time a bit more carefully. The family tree drawing activity took longer than I expected, and we didn’t have much time left for wrap-up or final questions. Next time, I might shorten the listening section or have students draw the tree at home prior to class so that we don’t spend too much time on that. I also noticed that a few students relied too much on English when asking about possessives, so I could have reinforced those structures more clearly before the pair work.

In general, I was happy with the energy of the class and how students interacted with each other. The topic was relatable and fun, and I think they left feeling more confident with both the vocabulary and possessive pronouns. For next time, I’ll keep focusing on pacing and adding more spontaneous speaking moments, since students respond really well to those.

Beyond: 

Beyond this particular class, I aim to consistently integrate authentic cultural materials from Russian-speaking contexts, even at the beginner level. I believe that early exposure to real-world language use increases student motivation and helps learners see Russian as a living language rather than a purely classroom exercise. Small details, such as incorporating street signs, advertisements, or everyday cultural references, allow students to recognize vocabulary in meaningful contexts and build confidence in their comprehension.

For example, when teaching clothing vocabulary, I often include photographs of street signs from Russia with phrases like «Женская одежда», which helps students connect familiar words to authentic environments. Similarly, earlier this semester, when my RUSS 101 students were learning their first verbs, including гулять (“to walk”), I introduced them to Viktor Tsoi and played his song «Бездельник», which contains a significant amount of vocabulary they had already encountered. Students were genuinely excited to realize that after only a few months of study, they could recognize words and phrases in a Russian song. Moments like this reinforce the idea that language learning is cumulative and rewarding.