Введение
TO STUDENTS
Welcome to the study of Russian! Домашние задания (Homework Assignments) provides listening and written activities that you will complete at home and then turn in to your instructor. It is only one element of the Между нами program, which also includes an online textbook (mezhdunami.org) and Работа в аудитории (Classroom Activities).
Organization of these homework exercises
The numbering system in the homework exercises matches the numbering system in the online textbook. As such, the exercises labeled 2.4 correspond to episode 2.4 Новые адреса in the online textbook.
Within each episode, exercises start with work on the episode’s text, then move to particular vocabulary and grammar work, and conclude with more open-ended writing (often situations or paragraphs about yourself). The exercises at the start of a unit are intended as building blocks – words, phrases and constructions that you can use (and reuse) in the open-ended writing exercises, and in many other contexts. Maximizing your use of these building blocks will make later assignments much easier, and it will help you gauge how well you have acquired the new material in the unit.
Read the instructions for each exercise carefully and follow the steps as indicated. Pay careful attention as you work through the individual elements of each activity, as you are often asked to understand subtle differences in meaning.
On the next page will be some tips for using the electronic version of this workbook.
Learning strategies to keep in mind as you do homework:
1. Regularly review the texts and grammar explanations in current and previous episodes of the online textbook. Language learning is cumulative, and each new homework exercise relies on previously learned material.
2. Work actively on sounding out new words you encounter in the exercises. You will be surprised at how many international words you will recognize once you pronounce syllables aloud. If you still do not recognize the word, check it in the online dictionary on the Ме́жду на́ми website. Since words can often have multiple meanings and usages, working with the Ме́жду на́ми dictionary will help you narrow down the set of word meanings to those that you have encountered.
3. When you are working on a specific exercise, try to complete as much of it as you can by drawing only on your memory of what you have learned from the textbook and your classroom practice. When you have finished this first attempt, check your work against the texts and grammar explanations and fill in any details you could not recall. This approach is more efficient in terms of time than looking up individual words or word forms as you encounter them. Furthermore, trying an exercise from memory first will give you a sense of how well you have internalized the material. If you can do an exercise easily AND correctly, then you should have confidence in your command of that material. If you try an exercise and cannot do it at all, you should go back and work with the text and grammar explanations before attempting it.
4. As you review your first attempt at doing a written exercise, pay attention to spelling. Have you confused о / а? Are there tails on the letters ц and щ? And a hook over й?
5. When doing the open-ended writing exercises, do not look up new and unknown words and phrases in online translators. Use the words and phrases that you have already seen in the texts and activities. Unlike other language textbooks that you may have used, the activities in this homework packet require you to pay attention to the meanings of new words and phrases, and not just to their grammar. To complete many of these activities you will need to know the texts and the story line of Между нами.
