Register now for our 2025 winter term!
- Multiple levels
- Small class size – max. 12 students
- Native-speaking & experienced instructors
- Affordable tuition – $380 per level
- 4 terms per year – each 10 weeks long
- Convenient downtown location or online
Learn Russian at the International Language Institute in Washington, DC, or online.
The Russian Language Program at ILI consists of four 10-week terms throughout the year. We offer 8 different levels from beginner to advanced. Our Russian classes take place once a week in the evenings or on Saturday mornings. Our teachers are all native-speaking and experienced. The Russian Language Program integrates speaking, listening, reading, and writing. We maintain small class sizes to enable adequate time for conversation in every class. To find your level, please refer to the level description or use our self-evaluation guide. If you have further questions, please call Jane Edwards, ILI’s Foreign Language Coordinator, at 202-686-5610 extension 105. Enroll now!
Live, Instructor-led In-Person or Online Russian Classes
Learn Russian in person or online from a live instructor using Zoom. All online classes are instructor-led, in real-time, allowing for the same live interaction as our in-person classes. Some of our classes are a combination of in-person and online students. We have 360-degree cameras in the rooms enabling online participants to feel part of the class. This hybrid class environment allows students to engage with each other and the instructor and to practice reading, writing, listening, and speaking the Russian Language.
Schedule Register Now!
2025 Term: | Session Dates: | Registration Deadline: |
---|---|---|
Winter | Jan. 13-Mar. 22, 2025 | Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024 |
Spring | Apr. 7-Jun. 14, 2025 | Monday, Mar. 24, 2025 |
Summer | Jun. 30-Sep. 6, 2025 | Monday, Jun. 16, 2025 |
Fall | Sep. 22-Dec. 6, 2025 | Monday, Sep. 8, 2025 |
Russian Level Description
Offered on: Mondays: 6:15 - 8:45 pm; or Tuesdays: 6:15-8:45 pm; or Saturdays: 10 am - 12:30 pm. Enroll now!
Objective: To introduce Russian to students who never took the language at school or had Russian in their lives at all. This course aims to provide beginning students with a practical basic command of the language.
Learning Outcome: At the end of this course, students will be able to engage in basic conversations about most common everyday situations and write simple notes and phrases. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to conduct basic conversations and write simple paragraphs about everyday topics.
Topics: Introduction of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, pronunciation, transliteration, regular and irregular verbs in the present tense, gender, personal pronouns, prepositional case, indeclinable nouns, possession, the accusative case, masculine/feminine/neuter adjectives, plurals, the genitive case, numbers, quantities, roubles and dollars and genitive pronouns and adjectives.
Textbook: "Beginner's Russian with Interactive Online Workbook, 2nd edition", $45
Lessons: Introduction to the Russian alphabet and chapters 1-6. Supplementary material provided by the teacher.
Offered on: Tuesdays: 6:15 – 8:45 pm; or Saturdays: 10 am - 12:30 pm.Enroll now!
Objective: Upon completing this level, students will be able to converse comfortably on most everyday routine situations speaking in the present, future and past tenses. They will be able to say or express their ideas, sentences and desires easily at a basic beginner’s level. They will learn enough vocabulary to continue with Russian Basic 3.
Learning Outcome: Future, past and conditional verb tenses, reflexive verbs, the dative case, imperfective and perfective, prepositional Plural, the infinitive, reported speech, impersonal constructions, the instrumental case, declension of surnames, time, date, age, ordinal numbers, superlative & relative clauses, obligation prefixes, and verbs of motion. Listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills will continue to be addressed throughout the course.
Topics: Time words; adverbial phrase – you yi dianr; particle - le; numbers 1 – 100; adjective –shi – adjective; minor sentences – no subject required sentences; verb-object compounds; resultative complements
Textbook: "Beginner's Russian with Interactive Online Workbook, 2nd edition", $45
Lessons: Chapters 7-12. Supplementary material provided by the teacher.
Offered on: Wednesdays: 6:15 – 8:45 pm. Enroll now!
Objective: Continuing to build upon the previously learned skills, students will acquire additional vocabulary which will enable them to converse in more complex conversations about their Russian history, culture, art, and familiar relationships. Students will learn grammar in a clear and concise format while being introduced to contemporary life and culture in today’s Russia.
Learning Outcome: By the end of this course, students will be able to have a basic conversation based on daily routine activities. They will be able to say or express their ideas with a full command of adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases. They will be able to understand and be understood in most major tenses with some combinations of imperative and conditional as well as the passive voice. The average student will have acquired an active vocabulary of approximately 1,200 words together with many more words in speech and writing. The student is ready for intermediate level courses.
Topics: Review of the more complex verb tenses, possession and purpose, declension of numbers, collective numerals, fractions, time expressions, negations, diminutives, proper names, politeness, indefinite pronouns, word order, writing letters, participles, verbal adverbs, “bookish” style, punctuation, short-term adjectives, abbreviations, names of Russian letters, and particles. Listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills will continue to be addressed throughout the course.
Textbook: "Beginner's Russian with Interactive Online Workbook, 2nd edition", $45
Lessons: Chapters 13-18. Supplementary material provided by the teacher.
Offered on: Thursdays: 6:15 – 8:45 pm. Enroll now!
Objective: Continuing to build upon the previously learned skills, students will acquire additional vocabulary which will enable them to converse in more complex conversations about their Russian history, culture, art, and familiar relationships. Students will learn grammar in a clear and concise format while being introduced to contemporary life and culture in today’s Russia.
Learning Outcome: By the end of this course, students will have acquired a solid foundation of the Russian language. They will be able to say or express their ideas with a full command of adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases. The students will be able to express immediate needs and interests using complete sentences, and discuss likes and dislikes in literature and the arts. The average student will have acquired an active vocabulary of well over 1,200 words together with many more words in speech and writing. The student is now at a low intermediate level.
Topics: Review of the more complex verb tenses, such as the third person-plural for passive/impersonal meaning, declension of last names, instrumental cases, speaking in generalities, verbs of asking, structures of holidays greetings, invitations and toasts, review of verbal adjectives and adverbs. Listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills will continue to be addressed throughout the course.
Textbook: "Beginner's Russian with Interactive Online Workbook, 2nd edition", $45
Lessons: Chapters 19-24. Supplementary material provided by the teacher.
Offered on: Mondays: 6:15 – 8:45 pm. Enroll now!
Objective: To introduce students to a variety of strategies for learning Russian at home or office and practice at the institute. They will use common expressions and will learn much more, altogether idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs. This program will focus in the development of all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing; together with a fifth skill, culture, which is an integral part of this program.
Learning Outcome: Students will be able to have a normal conversation based on daily events and express their ideas in written and orally ways. This level will refresh the previous knowledge about simple present and past tenses and strengthen all grammatical structures learned. It will also master infinitive and imperative tenses and use them properly when explaining past events in conversation.
Topics: Composing and responding to formal and informal letters, verb conjugations, prepositional case forms, time expressions, direct and indirect objects, plural forms, infinitive, internet terminology, dialogs on telephone conversations, hotels, banks, family, and several readings about everyday topics.
Textbook: V Puti Russian Grammar in Context and Student Activities Manual, $95 incl. tax
Lessons: Chapters 1-4 and supplementary material.
Offered on: Mondays: 6:15 – 8:45 pm. Enroll now!
Objective: To become much more comfortable understanding and using the proper verb tenses as they relate to moods while speaking Russian. This program will continue to focus in the development of all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing; together with a fifth skill, culture, which is an integral part of this program.
Learning Outcome: Students will be able to comfortably explain past events in both past tenses during routine conversations and plan activities in future tenses. Students will acquire a wider use of idiomatic expressions using phrasal verbs and using instrumental case forms. Students will become more comfortable navigating Russian internet sites.
Topics: Various uses of the reflexive verb forms, future, formation and use of the passive participles, personal infinitive, present and past participles, describing where you live, vacations, dating, relationships, customs, reading about music, arts, ballet, etc.
Textbook: V Puti Russian Grammar in Context and Student Activities Manual, $95 incl. tax
Lessons: Chapters 5-8 and supplementary material.
Offered on: Wednesdays: 6:15 – 8:45 pm. Enroll now!
Objective: This level will end covering all the grammatical structures needed to send the student into real-life situations speaking Russian and to get them ready for the more advanced courses. To have full command of the language most important verb tenses. This program will continue to focus in the development of all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing; together with a fifth skill, culture, which is an integral part of this program.
Learning Outcome: Students will be able have a conversation with native speakers about different subjects using the right conjugation and right words when talking or expressing specific points of view. They will become familiar and comfortable using the more compound verb tenses. We will expand their knowledge of idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs together with the use of the imperative forms.
Topics: Introduction to compound verb tenses such as, prefixed verbs of motion, dependent clause vs. personal infinitive, declensions, comparatives, superlatives, adjective and adverb clauses, proverbs, impersonal expressions, imperatives, points of view, automobiles, modern life, pastimes, and several readings about everyday life topics.
Textbook: V Puti Russian Grammar in Context and Student Activities Manual, $95 incl. tax
Lessons: Chapters 9-12 and supplemental material.
Offered on: Thursdays: 6:15 – 8:45 pm. Enroll now!
Objective: Through a mixture of media in Russian, students will be able to analyze current events, converse and think critically about them in Russian. Reading articles which will be organized in a specific way to help students gain and remember new, useful vocabulary which will allow them to discuss different serious topics in Russian.
Learning Outcome: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to hold a very complex conversation about the news in Russia in all forms of media. They will also be able to write a résumé of news happening in Russia.
Topics: Rigorous use of multi-media vocabulary; idiomatic expressions; news vocabulary; analytic style of writing in Russian.
Textbook: Various sources of newspapers from the internet.