Watch, listen, learn!

Real-life communication is one of the most important goals for most language learners. Speaking and listening are inseparable components of oral communication. Currently, most specialists in foreign-language teaching emphasise the importance of activities designed to develop both skills. Russian is no exception.

Unfortunately, many teachers disregard methodological recommendations and assume that listening to the teacher alone provides sufficient listening practice. To develop listening comprehension effectively, learners at all proficiency levels should hear a range of native speakers in class: people of different ages and professions, men, women and children, younger and older speakers, and people from different parts of Russia, and so on. It is equally important to diversify listening exercises by using songs, feature films and documentaries, cartoons, programmes, interviews and news broadcasts.

When a listening exercise includes a visual component, this can motivate the learner and help them understand the content more effectively. It also supports associative memory, making vocabulary and grammatical patterns easier to retain.

Fortunately, many universities and language schools now have classrooms equipped with modern technology that makes it possible to use video materials in lessons, and a vast range of such materials is available online.

Many people believe that the audio supplement to a textbook is sufficient for beginner-level learners. Modern textbooks on Russian as a foreign language do indeed include systems of listening exercises with professionally recorded audio that meet established methodological recommendations. These tasks should be used in classroom, but learners should also be accustomed to a range of voices and intonation patterns – in other words, namely to live speech.

At the same time, learner motivation plays an extremely important role at the beginner stage, especially with a language as challenging as Russian. Suitable materials include children’s songs for practising the alphabet and grammatical cases (for example, from the “Синий трактор” series), as well as short videos featuring basic greetings, conversational formulas and ways of sustaining a dialogue. Videos from the “Russian101” series work particularly well for this purpose.

Red Kalinka videos can also be used for vocabulary practice. Unfortunately, there are far fewer high-quality videos built around communicative topics. This is partly because the range of communication at A1-A2 is still limited.

We can recommend videos from the communicative course “Ретур” and the video supplement accompanying the textbook “Live from Russia”. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuX_YDeQ2Gg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB6ss7vWM2g).

Videos featuring songs from Soviet cartoons are a good way to give learners a break from monotonous grammar exercises. Engaging visuals and the funny voices of cartoon characters can create a positive learning atmosphere.

At the intermediate stage, the situation changes significantly, as there are many more opportunities to use different sources to design listening exercises. There are now many videos created specifically by teachers of Russian that can be used with learners. We can recommend Russian teacher Anastasia Semina’s channel and “Easy Russian”, which focuses primarily on spoken Russian.

The video courses “Начало” and “Голоса” are also available online and contain many examples of authentic spoken Russian. However, the social and cultural realities shown in them are somewhat dated.

In addition, intermediate-level learners can begin watching short, unadapted excerpts from films, episodes of sketch shows (for example, “6 кадров”) and episodes of the children’s film magazine “Ералаш”. The teacher must select episodes that learners can understand and that correspond to the lesson’s lexical and grammatical focus.

In other words, video should not be treated in isolation from the lesson topic; it should complement it. The sketch show “6 кадров” works particularly well because its clips are already organised by communicative topic: “At the pharmacy”, “At the doctor”, “In the shop”, and so on.

There are also websites with ready-made exercises based on short videos. One such resource is “3ears”.

Another useful resource is “Amazing Russian”, which contains activities for practising all speech skills as well as a large number of high-quality videos on Russian grammar.

At B2 level, the cultural and country-studies component becomes particularly important. The teacher therefore needs to select suitable videos for this stage. In our view, the animated projects “Мульти-Россия” and “Путешествуй с нами” are excellent additions to lessons on Russian culture and country studies. At this level, learners may also benefit from short videos on a range of topics, primarily to expand their vocabulary. Suitable examples include videos from the “Путеводительница”, “10 глупых вопросов” and “Неловкие вопросы” series. Learners interested in science can watch the “Научпок” and “Галилео” channels.

At C1-C2, teachers should use as wide a range of video materials as possible: excerpts from feature films available on the “Mosfilm” channel (“Мосфильм”), news clips on different topics from major television channels, cartoons, television programmes, documentaries on Russian history, and so on. For example, we can recommend documentaries by L. Parfenov, “Born in the USSR” (“Рождённые в СССР”), and videos from the series “Walking through Moscow” (“Пешком по Москве”), “Russia, My Love” (“Моя любовь – Россия”) and «Letters from the Provinces» (“Письма из провинции”).

YouTube also offers a vast number of interesting short films that can be used with learners at B1-C2. Search for “короткометражный фильм” and choose a film whose subject fits the lesson and is appropriate to the learners’ level and interests.

Careful selection of video material for RFL lessons is an important task for any modern teacher. The number of online resources is constantly growing, so teachers need to keep abreast of new materials. At the same time, it is not enough simply to use videos in class. Video-based activities should form part of a coherent system of exercises and correspond to the lesson’s lexical and grammatical focus. By introducing video-based activities from the beginner stage, we can increase learners’ motivation and interest in the Russian language. This is why such tasks should be presented in every lesson.

To help you find suitable video materials, here is a list of resources for learners at different levels of RFL proficiency:

Levels A1-A2

Alphabet
RedKalinka School Videos – vocabulary, grammar and conversational phrases: https://www.youtube.com/user/russianforfree
Russian 101 – conversational phrases
RussianPod101 – basic grammar and conversational phrases: https://www.youtube.com/user/russianpod101
Ретур – communicative topics
Live from Russia – communicative topics and Russian country studies
The Amazing Russian channel – communicative and grammar topics (also suitable for B1).

Level B1

Ералаш (selected episodes): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0u6gAESA0XmSJQaAyDTTVg
Easy Russian – colloquial spoken Russian
Anastasia Semina’s channel – spoken Russian and communicative practice: https://www.youtube.com/user/AnastasiSemina
The “Кстати” section includes short videos, interesting facts, and grammar and vocabulary practice
Video course “Голоса” – a video supplement accompanying the textbook “Голоса”, with authentic communicative situations and speakers from Russia discussing a range of topics
The “Русский язык за чашкой чая” project – Russian communication etiquette and cultural customs
The “Russian from Russia” project – culture, travel in Russia and grammar: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCToc6Wngxhw2jfhvGzS966Q

Levels B2-C2

“Мульти-Россия” – short animated films about different regions of Russia: https://www.youtube.com/user/multirussia
“Путешествуй с нами” – videos about places of interest in Russia
The “Вам слово” series – residents of Novosibirsk answer a variety of questions
Galileo Channel (канал “Галилео”) – popular-science videos on experiments and scientific facts: https://www.youtube.com/user/GalileoRU
Nauchpok channel (канал “Научпок”) – short popular-science videos and interesting facts: https://www.youtube.com/user/nowchpok
L. Parfenov’s programme “Намедни” – short videos on the history of the USSR
This Is Хорошо – a channel on everyday topics featuring colloquial Russian: https://www.youtube.com/user/ThisIsHorosho
100500voprosov – questions and answers featuring spoken Russian: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7D_stF-9Dbyh6ppRHKfe3A
The animated series “Гора самоцветов”.
Country-studies videos from “Россия – любовь моя” and “Письма из провинции”.
Short Russian-language videos on various topics – lifestyle, sport, food, travel, etc.
“Откуда слова растут” – videos on the origins of Russian words and expressions; an entertaining-etymology feature on the Modern Russian portal.

Author: Yulia Amlinskaya, teacher of Russian as a foreign language and administrator of the RFL Teachers group.