About the company Foreign language courses at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov "Start2study". Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​and Regional Studies, Moscow State University Education of foreign citizens

Interesting about the Italian language.
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Let's start with a few words about the modern status of the language; it is obvious that Italian is the official language in Italy, the Vatican (simultaneously with Latin), in San Marino, but also in Switzerland (in its Italian part, the canton of Ticino) and in Several districts in Croatia and Slovenia, where a large Italian-speaking population lives, Italian is also spoken by some of the residents on the island of Malta.

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I have had a difficult relationship with the English language throughout my life.

1. THE NEED FOR LANGUAGE LEARNING (Background)

In primary school we were taught German from the 3rd grade, In principle, it was not bad for me then. I wanted to continue teaching him, but I had to move and change schools. At the new school, to the question: “Do you have a German language group?” The headmistress twirled her finger at her temple. That’s how, from the sixth grade, I suddenly began to learn to at least read in English, while my classmates could already speak something.

Additionally, my mother sent me to a tutor to catch up with my classmates. We galloped across Europe to catch up on the material so that I could get at least a C in the first quarter. But the teacher came to her senses and at least gave me a 4 for effort and zeal in the second quarter.

This is where my zeal actually disappeared; the language I was learning was difficult for me, because I wanted to continue learning German, and society and my mother forced English on me. Actually, I was somehow able to survive until the end of 8th grade on knowledge of the Present Simple and irregular verbs memorized. I simply memorized all the topics and passed all the assignments, getting my B's and moving on to the next class.

From 9th to 11th grade, I copied everything from my neighbor at my desk, and was completely sure that I didn’t need English. In general, I was going to enroll in biology, and there was introductory biology. So it was with great sorrow that I graduated from school.

But the first year schedule didn’t make me very happy! English 3 times a week. But I decided to do everything according to the old scheme: do all my homework with the help of a translator and the Internet, learn topics and words by heart, get a machine gun.

2. INDEPENDENT ATTEMPT TO Catch up

In my third year I was already sick of it. There was a strong desire to finally learn the language, and I also began to travel abroad, where English (although not everywhere) is very necessary. I myself began to look for resources to develop. Thus, I came across LinguaLeo website, which helped me a lot at the time. I also found website Livemocha.com , where I began to look for international friends with whom I could communicate in English.

I learned a lot of new words, tried to learn and understand the rules, watched and listened to recordings in the language I was learning. In six months of daily practice I have progressed quite far. There was great progress - I myself managed to achieve more than I once did with tutors. Apparently, if a person wants something, then he will achieve his goal.

By the end of the third year, I passed the exam and finished English. New items appeared that took a lot of time. There was no time left for English. Over time, I began to forget what I had already mastered on my own, not to mention making time for new activities.

After graduating from university, I realized that I needed to return to the language again. But now I need a different approach. It was not possible to teach him on his own, as before at home, since household chores are distracting. And even when I study on my own, I don’t understand much; I need someone to explain some rules, explain them, and give examples. To have experience of communication and, most importantly, it was necessary to overcome the language barrier.

And I decided to take English courses.

3. CHOICE OF SCHOOL/COURSES

Of course, the first establishment that I noticed was the one whose advertisements were replete with the whole city - English First. The financial issue worried me no less, but there was no information about prices anywhere. There was only one source of information - a friend of my friend who studied there.

A girl from a wealthy family, she studied there for 3 years, and now she works as an English teacher in a private school. I found out information that she personally paid 24 thousand a month, but I never found out the intensity of her classes. Of course, I really wanted to go to EF, but the prices confused me, so I decided to look for courses at Moscow universities.

I paid attention to 3 institutions: English language courses at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, English language courses at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, and training at RUDN University.

RUDN dismissed it immediately, since these were not courses, but additional education, classes were only on Saturdays. You had to pass a test to determine your level of English, and then they would determine how many years you would have to study. Minimum 2 years (if knowledge is good) maximum 4 (if none at all). With my knowledge, I understood that I was dooming myself to additional education at the age of 4. In the end, I chose from Moscow State University and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I decided to sign up for a free test first. The first testing was at Moscow State University. After testing, I already decided to stay at Moscow State University and signed an agreement.

4. TRAINING IN START2STUDY

4.1 Testing for knowledge level

Here, like most schools, testing is free. They put you in a separate room alone and give you a test. I think it takes an hour to complete the test.

• 3 blocks of questions, but there are not many of them, 5-6 in each block. The tasks are different - insert the missing word, choose the right time, answer questions based on a short text. You can use everything, you are alone in the room, but it is in your interests to test your knowledge, not your ability to find information. After the test, the teacher quickly checks the answers.

• The second part of the test is coming, which is the worst thing for me - conversation. I had to talk about myself and answer questions. And I began to feel stupor. It seems like the questions are elementary, but it’s like I swallowed my tongue and can’t say anything. Somehow I gathered all the words I knew into a pile and blurted out a couple of sentences.

The teacher assigned me to the Elementary level. Actually, she didn’t insist or persuade, she just voiced my level. If I wanted, I would go to the next level, the teacher did not object, she just warned that it would be difficult and recommended starting from a lower level. Yes, I was upset at such a low level, but I came to fill the gap, and not to get crusts as quickly as possible, so I decided to start with Elementary.

4.2 Class schedule

The school tries to please everyone, because the majority of course visitors are working people. The times vary, classes are offered 2 times a week. For my level they offered several options:

• Daytime - 12 noon
• Evening - 18:20, 19:30

You can also choose different days of the week. I chose 18:20 because I worked until 17:30.

When I switched to Pre-intermediate, the choice of class times was already more extensive, but I decided to study during the day. For higher levels, it is also possible to choose classes only on Saturdays (two in a row).

There is also an intensive version of classes. If you want to complete half the course in 1-1.5 months. I decided to go through the second part of Elementary at an accelerated pace so that I could start a new level in the spring. On the accelerated course there is no opportunity to choose the time; classes were strictly from 19:00, 3 times a week. The lesson lasted 2.5 hours.

4.3 Training materials

Study materials are already included in the course price. They consist of a textbook, workbook and CD with audio and video exercises.

The program we used was developed by the University of Cambridge, called Face2face. The textbook is as simple and understandable as possible.

One lesson was completed in one session. If you missed a class, you can easily figure it out and take it at home yourself.

The only drawback is that if you go through it on your own, you miss the opportunity to talk with someone, so it’s better not to skip classes. What is knowledge worth if there is no opportunity to apply it? Conversational experience is part of learning.

The tasks included in the textbook are different. Grammar, vocabulary, listening and speaking are required. Each lesson involves communication. There were 10 people in our group, and each time we had to discuss some topic with each other. The teachers tried to constantly change places with us so that we would not get used to one interlocutor, but would try to find a common language with other students.

There was almost no need for a workbook in class. We worked with her exclusively at home. It is built on the principle of a textbook, so each lesson corresponds. We worked on the grammar again using the notebook.

The disc is needed for additional study of listening at home. The disk contains a program that needs to be installed on your computer. This application contains videos, audio recordings, texts, and tasks on these materials in the form of a test.

In addition to the basic textbooks and materials, each lesson the teachers gave additional printed assignments and tests, which we completed during the lesson and discussed each assignment. Some were given to take home.

4.4 Teachers

I had 4 Russian-speaking teachers, and 2 foreigners. I would like to say that all Russian-speaking teachers are great professionals. They explain the material in an accessible, even very accessible way. It's a pity that you can't write names here, I would really like to recommend some of the teachers.

They could explain complex things in simple language. All my life I could never understand tenses, and finally here it dawned on me when to use which tense.

I took 2 courses (Elementary and Pre-Intermediate) - so I managed to get to know several teachers. At the Elementary level there are 3 classes with foreign teachers. In the first part of the course, we had a trial lesson with an American. The lesson flew by unnoticed, although during the first part of the lesson it was difficult to loosen up and start talking to him. Still, it’s easier to communicate with each other than with a real carrier.

In the second part of the course we already had an Englishman. And here I realized that pure British is very difficult to hear, it was really difficult. It was much easier to communicate with an American.

At the Pre-Intermediate level, half of our classes were taught by a Briton. Of the two classes a week, one was with a Russian teacher, who taught us grammar, and the second day we studied purely with a native speaker, who, by the way, does not know Russian. At first it was incredibly difficult, but by the middle of the course we had already learned to understand each other. And most importantly, I overcame my embarrassment. We didn’t always speak correctly, but it’s not scary, because the teacher understood us, and correcting us was not scary or embarrassing at all, because we are just learning)) That’s how I overcame my language barrier.

A little more about classes with a native speaker...

Our classes always began with a conversation about the weekend, about mood, business, health. The teacher talked about his hobbies, what he does in Russia, and what difficulties he faces in this country. And only then did we move on to the lesson. We studied using the same book, and also went through some grammar rules, but we were not always able to understand his explanations. Therefore, he had to explain things more simply, sometimes with diagrams and sketches on the board. In principle, it is intelligible, only once we asked a Russian teacher to explain a topic that we covered with a native speaker.

There were also thematic conversations, divided into teams, there were games, sometimes the conversations deviated from the topic and we just talked about something abstract and personal. It’s incredibly interesting to find out what foreigners think about Russia and our culture)) These classes began to fly by in moments.

4.5 Price issue

When I first applied, I signed a contract for 3 months, 2 classes per week (half of the Elementary course) for 24,400 rubles.

I didn’t think it was a lot, because an academic hour with a tutor costs 1,500-2,000 rubles. Yes, you work one-on-one with a tutor, but I already had a similar experience, and I learned little - it was too boring.

I decided to take the second part of Elementary intensive (1 month) - 3 times a week for 2 hours. This course cost me 20,060 rubles. The discount was given for the fact that I am a continuing student + paid the entire amount in advance. There is also the possibility of installment plans (no commission).

For those interested in the terms of the contract, I will leave some excerpts in the quote:

Well, I decided to go to Pre-intermediate during the daytime, due to which I received an additional discount, in total this part cost me 15,300 rubles.

By the way, if you came to a lower level and realized that it was too easy for you to study, you can move to any group of the next course.

I was offered to go to the second part of this level in the summer, but in the summer I had other plans, including a long trip out of the city. Therefore, in order not to forget what I had learned, and also to move on, I studied independently using these educational materials.

4.6 Progress

Upon returning from vacation, entrance exams to graduate school awaited me, where one of the three main exams was English.

I managed to pass the exam with a 4, which makes me incredibly happy. Especially since I had an interview for my specialty in English, the teachers’ questions no longer confused me.

• Now I can communicate calmly using basic phrases. I learned to explain complex things in simple words and sentences (since my level is not up to constructing complex structures orally on the go, I will continue to work on this).

• But, most importantly, I’m no longer afraid to speak and I don’t think about every word, trying to remember whether I’m using it correctly. It's already coming from within))

• I stopped being afraid of questions from foreigners, now, on the contrary, I thirst for communication with them, both on special sites and sometimes in life.

Of course, now for many my level will seem ridiculous and low, but for me this is an achievement, for the first time in many years I am confident that I will be able to find a language with a foreigner and will not remain silent if they speak to me in English.

I really wanted to continue the course in the fall, but since I am now a graduate student, and the program includes English, for now I will try to get by with classes according to the program. And in the spring I will continue to study at star2study again. Now I have a B1 level, but I want to increase my level to at least Upper, ideally, of course, Advanced.