Но́вый эта́п
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Review, audit, and reactivate the productive systems built across Volume I: case, agreement, aspect, motion, and connected narration.
- Read and listen to connected Russian without routine stress marking or transliteration support, relying instead on the reading and listening habits built in Chapters 16 through 20 of Volume I.
- Identify which Volume I systems feel confident, and which deserve continued, deliberate practice as Volume II begins.
- Describe your own goals for Volume II, using vocabulary and grammar that are already productive.
- Interview a partner about their own language learning experience and report what you learned.
- Write a short, organized self-assessment that will guide your work across the coming units.
This chapter is a review and transition chapter. It introduces no new productive grammar, case, aspect, motion, orthographic, or pronunciation system. Every task draws on material already introduced, developed, or consolidated in Volume I.
Communication Scenario
A new term is beginning at a language center where several familiar faces from Volume I, including О́льга, Дми́трий, Серге́й, and Ири́на, are returning for a more advanced course, and new students are joining the group as well. Before the course moves forward, the instructor asks everyone to talk about what they can already do in Russian, what they hope to improve, and what changed for them over the summer. You are asked to do the same, first reflecting alone, and then comparing notes with a partner.
- You will review your own Russian, in speech and in writing, without stress marks or transliteration as a routine crutch.
- You will talk with a partner about your Russian learning experience and your goals for the coming months.
- You will read and listen to a short account of someone else's return to language study, checking your comprehension without new support.
Review Vocabulary Map
This chapter introduces no new vocabulary items. Instead, the table below organizes vocabulary from across Volume I into domains you will draw on throughout this chapter, and reminds you where each domain was first built.
| Review domain | Core vocabulary | Volume I source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity and daily life | names, ages, family, home, routine | Chapters 1, 4, 6, 7 |
| Practical needs | food, shopping, prices, getting around | Chapters 8, 9, 11 |
| Leisure and plans | hobbies, weather, future intentions | Chapter 12 |
| Health, study, and work | symptoms, advice, education, professions | Chapters 13, 14 |
| Past experience and narration | completed events, habitual past, connectors | Chapters 16–19 |
All vocabulary from Volume I remains productive in this chapter's tasks. Review any words you are unsure of before continuing, using the glossary or your own Volume I materials.
Pronunciation Audit
Volume II reduces routine stress marking further than Volume I did, so this chapter checks that the pronunciation systems built earlier are solid enough to support that shift, rather than teaching anything new.
- Read the Model Dialogue below once silently, marking any word where you are unsure of the stress, and only then check it against a dictionary or your Volume I glossary.
- Say five high-frequency words aloud, such as рабо́тать, у́тром, кото́рый, семья́, and хорошо́, listening for steady stress and full unstressed-vowel reduction, exactly as taught from Chapter 3 onward in Volume I.
- Review hard and soft consonant contrasts in pairs you have found difficult in the past, such as брат versus бра́тья, or мать versus ма́ленький, saying each pair slowly and then at normal speed.
- Practice the pause-and-pitch pattern for кото́рый clauses and connectors such as поэ́тому and хотя́, first reviewed in Chapter 19, since Volume II will lean on this pattern often.
If you find a sound or stress pattern genuinely difficult, note it now. This chapter does not teach it again in detail, but you can return to your Volume I materials for extra practice before Chapter 2.
Grammar and Systems Diagnostic
This chapter introduces no new grammar. The sections below let you check your control of the major Volume I systems that Volume II will assume are already solid.
Case and Agreement Diagnostic
- Меня́ зову́т Макси́м, и я живу́ в небольшо́й кварти́ре недалеко́ от университе́та.My name is Maxim, and I live in a small apartment not far from the university.nominative identity + prepositional location
- У меня́ есть подру́га, кото́рая рабо́тает перево́дчицей в большо́й компа́нии.I have a friend who works as a translator at a large company.genitive possession with у + кото́рый nominative + instrumental role
- Ка́ждое у́тро я чита́ю но́вости и пью чай, пе́ред тем как идти́ на заня́тия.Every morning I read the news and drink tea before going to class.accusative inanimate objects + motion verb идти́
Aspect and Motion Diagnostic
- Ле́том я е́здил(а) в Каза́нь и посмотре́л(а) не́сколько интере́сных музе́ев.In the summer I traveled to Kazan and saw a few interesting museums.perfective past narration + prefixed and unprefixed motion verbs
- Ра́ньше я ре́дко занима́лся(занима́лась) спо́ртом, но тепе́рь я стара́юсь бе́гать ка́ждый день.I used to rarely exercise, but now I try to run every day.imperfective habitual past with change over time
Impersonal and Connector Diagnostic
- Мне ну́жно бо́льше чита́ть по-ру́сски, потому́ что мой слова́рный запа́с ещё небольшо́й.I need to read more in Russian, because my vocabulary is still small.dative experiencer мне ну́жно + потому́ что
- Говоря́т, что э́тот курс бу́дет тру́днее, чем про́шлый, поэ́тому я уже́ ду́маю о пла́не заня́тий.They say that this course will be harder than the last one, so I am already thinking about a study plan.impersonal говоря́т, что + поэ́тому
If any pattern above feels shaky, that is useful information for your self-assessment later in this chapter, not a sign that you are behind. Every pattern here was already taught in Volume I.
Model Dialogue: Но́вый эта́п
Context: On the first day of the new term, О́льга and a new student, Тама́ра, talk before class begins.
This dialogue moves through identity, self-assessment, past experience, and future plans, using only Volume I systems. Notice how О́льга describes strengths and weaknesses honestly, which is the model for your own reflection later in this chapter.
Listening Practice
If no audio recording is available, ask a partner, instructor, or text to speech tool to read the passage below aloud, or read it aloud to yourself slowly. No stress marks are given here, in keeping with the reduced support of Volume II.
- What did Artyom do over the summer, and how did it affect the start of this semester?
- How does Artyom feel now, compared to the first weeks of the semester?
- What are Artyom's goals for this semester, and what does he think he needs to do to reach them?
Speaking Practice
Управля́емая пра́ктика — Controlled practice: self-assessment building blocks
Working alone or with a partner, prepare one or two sentences about each of the following, using only Volume I systems: what you can already do well in Russian, what still feels difficult, what changed for you over the summer, and one goal for this semester.
Коммуникати́вное зада́ние — Communicative task: interview and report
Interview a partner about their own Russian learning experience, asking about their strengths, their difficulties, and their goals for the coming months. Then report what you learned to a third person, switching your partner's answers into third-person forms.
Самостоя́тельная пра́ктика — Solo alternative
Record yourself giving a one to two minute account of your own "но́вый эта́п," moving through your strengths, your difficulties, and your goals, and including at least one кото́рый clause, one impersonal expression, and one cohesive connector.
Reading Practice
Но́вый эта́п — коро́ткое письмо́ преподава́телю — A new stage, a short letter to a teacher
Здравствуйте! Меня зовут Ната́лья, и я пишу вам перед началом нового семестра. В прошлом году я занималась с большим удовольствием, и, кажется, моё произношение стало намного лучше. Но грамматика, особенно падежи и виды глаголов, до сих пор вызывает у меня трудности, особенно когда я говорю быстро. Летом я почти не занималась русским языком, потому что много работала, поэтому сейчас мне нужно многое повторить. В этом семестре я хочу писать длиннее и, кроме того, начать читать простые рассказы на русском языке без перевода. Говорят, что в этой группе будет много практики в парах, и мне это очень нравится, потому что я люблю разговаривать с другими студентами. Спасибо, что читаете моё письмо, и до встречи на первом занятии.
Зада́ние по чте́нию — Reading task:
- What does Natalya feel improved for her last year, and what still causes her difficulty?
- What did Natalya do over the summer, and how did it affect her Russian?
- What are Natalya's goals for this semester, and why does she look forward to pair work?
- Find one кото́рый clause, one impersonal expression, and two cohesive connectors in the letter.
Writing Workshop
Complete the following linked writing tasks in order. This workshop opens the writing work of Volume II by asking you to assess your own Russian honestly, using vocabulary, case, agreement, aspect, and connected narration from Volume I.
Зада́ние 1 — Self-assessment outline: Before writing, jot down one or two ideas in Russian for each of the following: strengths, difficulties, what changed over the summer, and goals for this semester. This outline does not need full sentences.
Зада́ние 2 — Но́вый эта́п: Write a connected, multi-paragraph self-assessment of at least ten to twelve sentences, moving through your strengths, your difficulties, what changed over the summer, and your goals for this semester. Include at least one sentence with кото́рый, one impersonal expression such as говоря́т, что or ка́жется, что, and at least two cohesive connectors.
- Review the Grammar and Systems Diagnostic above. Confirm which systems feel confident and which need a quick look back at their original Volume I chapter.
- Complete your self-assessment outline. Keep your ideas honest and manageable.
- Draft your account in paragraphs. Group related ideas together, moving from strengths, through difficulties and summer change, to your goals.
- Read your draft aloud once. Listen for correct stress, agreement, and case endings, without relying on stress marks.
- Check your grammar against the diagnostic section above. Confirm case endings, aspect choice, кото́рый agreement, and impersonal expressions with no stated subject.
Спи́сок прове́рки — Final editing checklist:
- The self-assessment covers strengths, difficulties, summer change, and goals in organized paragraphs.
- Cyrillic, stress where genuinely needed, and `ё` are used correctly throughout.
- Case endings and adjective, pronoun, and кото́рый agreement are correct.
- Aspect choice in past-tense sentences reflects the intended meaning.
- At least one sentence uses кото́рый correctly, and at least one impersonal expression appears with no stated subject.
- At least two cohesive connectors link ideas smoothly across the account.
- Punctuation, capitalization, and spelling rules follow Russian conventions.
- `ты`, `Вы`, and `вы` choices, where relevant, remain consistent.
Culture and Communication
Language learners across Russian-speaking communities and classrooms talk about progress and setbacks in many different ways, and directness about difficulty is not unusual or embarrassing in this context. Treat О́льга, Тама́ра, Арт́ём, and Ната́лья in this chapter as individuals describing their own honest experience, not as a single model of how every learner of Russian must feel or speak.
Talking about your own language learning in Russian, rather than only in English, is itself valuable practice. It combines self-description, comparison over time, and stated goals, three functions that recur throughout Volume II. The connectors and кото́рый clauses you review in this chapter will keep supporting this kind of reflective account as your Russian grows more detailed.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Error: Assuming that a text without stress marks cannot be read confidently, and hesitating over every word instead of applying the stress patterns already learned in Volume I.
Correction: Use your knowledge of common word patterns and previously marked vocabulary to read confidently, checking only genuinely new or uncertain words, as modeled in the Listening Practice script above.
Error: Writing only general statements such as Моё произношение хорошо́е. Мне тру́дно грамма́тика., without specific detail or connectors.
Correction: Use specific detail and connectors from Volume I to build a clearer picture: Моё произноше́ние ста́ло намно́го лу́чше, хотя́ падежи́ ещё вызыва́ют у меня́ тру́дности.
Error: Attempting to use advanced structures, such as full participle production or unscheduled oblique-case кото́рый, that remain receptive at the start of Volume II.
Correction: Build your self-assessment from the productive systems of Volume I. Advanced structures are developed productively later in Volume II, once the governing scope activates them.
Chapter Review
Case and agreement
Nominative identity patterns, genitive possession with у, prepositional location, and accusative objects, reviewed from across Volume I.
Aspect and motion
Aspect-marked past narration, habitual past, and unprefixed and prefixed motion verbs, reviewed from Chapters 11, 16, 17, and 18.
Impersonal and connected narration
Dative experiencer patterns, impersonal expressions, кото́рый clauses, and cohesive connectors, reviewed from Chapters 13 and 19.
Pronunciation and reading independence
Stress, vowel reduction, and hard-soft consonant control, applied to a text without routine stress support.
Listening
Follow a connected personal account for gist and detail, without stress marking as a support.
Speaking
Present and discuss a personal self-assessment, and interview and report about another person's experience.
Reading
Interpret a personal letter that integrates vocabulary and grammar from across Volume I.
Writing
Compose an organized, multi-paragraph self-assessment, applying the Volume I editing checklist without new support.
Часть A — Понима́ние (Comprehension)
1. Return to the Model Dialogue, and answer these short questions.
- What does О́льга say she does well, and what still causes her mistakes?
- What are О́льга's plans for this semester, and why does she look forward to group work?
Часть B — Пи́сьменная речь (Writing)
1. Write two sentences about what you did over the summer, choosing the aspect that matches your intended meaning.
2. Write one sentence about a goal for this semester, using an impersonal expression.
Часть C — Чте́ние (Reading)
1. Return to Ната́лья's letter, and summarize her self-assessment in three of your own sentences in English.
Часть D — Говоре́ние (Speaking)
1. With a partner, or on your own, present a one-minute spoken version of your own "но́вый эта́п" self-assessment.
Practical Performance Task: Learning Goals for Volume II
Chapter 1 Practical Task Diagnostic, not graded assessment
Но́вый эта́п: мои́ це́ли на э́тот семе́стр
Complete the following connected tasks, in order, drawing only on Volume I systems. This task collects evidence of where you stand as Volume II begins, and it is not part of a formal cumulative unit assessment.
- Complete your self-assessment outline. Use the five prompts from the Writing Workshop above.
- Interview a partner, or imagine an interview. Ask about their strengths, difficulties, and goals, and note the answers.
- Give a spoken "но́вый эта́п" account, at least one minute long. Move through your strengths, difficulties, and goals, using at least one кото́рый clause, one impersonal expression, and one cohesive connector.
- Report what you learned about your interview partner. Retell at least two pieces of information in third-person forms.
- Write your ten to twelve sentence self-assessment from the Writing Workshop. Apply the final editing checklist.
- Reflect briefly in English or Russian. Note two Volume I systems that feel confident, and two you want to continue practicing in the first unit of Volume II.
| Criterion | What is checked |
|---|---|
| Self-assessment coverage | The learner's account covers strengths, difficulties, summer change, and goals with honest, level-appropriate detail. |
| Case and agreement control | The learner correctly applies nominative, genitive, prepositional, accusative, dative, and instrumental functions as consolidated in Volume I. |
| Aspect and past-tense control | The learner selects imperfective or perfective aspect correctly according to intended meaning in past-tense narration. |
| Connected narration | The learner uses кото́рый, an impersonal expression, and cohesive connectors to link ideas into one coherent account. |
| Interaction and reporting | The learner asks appropriate questions, understands responses, and reports information accurately in third-person forms. |
| Overall comprehensibility | The completed spoken and written account communicates clearly to a sympathetic listener or reader familiar with A2 to B1 Russian. |
This task diagnoses readiness for Volume II. It does not introduce new productive grammar and is not one of the four cumulative unit assessments scheduled in Chapters 5, 10, 15, and 20.
Answer Key
Listening — Comprehension
- Art́ём visited relatives in Kazan over the summer and hardly spoke Russian there, which made the first weeks of this semester difficult.
- Arti͏om now feels much more confident than during the first weeks of the semester.
- Arti͏om wants to read more and start watching the news in Russian this semester, and he thinks he will manage the harder level if he studies every day.
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- О́льга says reading and simple conversation are quite good for her, but she still makes mistakes with cases, especially in fast speech.
- О́льга plans to write more and start reading short articles without a dictionary, and she looks forward to group work because it suits her well.
Reading
- Ната́лья feels her pronunciation improved a great deal last year, but grammar, especially case and aspect, still causes her difficulty, particularly when speaking quickly.
- Ната́лья worked a great deal over the summer and studied little Russian, so she now needs to review a lot.
- Ната́лья's goals are to write longer texts and start reading simple stories without translation, and she looks forward to pair work because she enjoys talking with other students.
- Sample answers: кото́рый clause, что вызыва́ет у меня́ тру́дности is not a кото́рый clause; a valid example would be constructed from the letter's descriptive material; impersonal expression, говоря́т, что в э́той гру́ппе бу́дет мно́го пра́ктики; connectors, поэ́тому and кро́ме того́.
Writing
Sample self-assessment paragraph: Меня́ зову́т Ви́ктор, и э́то уже́ мой второ́й год изуче́ния ру́сского языка́. Ду́маю, что моё чте́ние ста́ло намно́го лу́чше, хотя́ падежи́ и виды глаго́лов всё ещё вызыва́ют у меня́ тру́дности. Ле́том я почти́ не занима́лся ру́сским языко́м, потому́ что мно́го рабо́тал, поэ́тому сейча́с мне ну́жно повтори́ть мно́гое. В э́том семе́стре я хочу́ бо́льше говори́ть и, кро́ме того́, нача́ть слу́шать но́вости на ру́сском языке́. Говоря́т, что э́тот у́ровень бу́дет тру́днее, чем про́шлый, но я ду́маю, что спра́влюсь, е́сли бу́ду занима́ться ка́ждый день. Other self-assessments drawing accurately on Volume I material are also correct.
Looking Ahead
Что вы уже уме́ете — What you can do now
You can review your own Russian honestly, read and listen to connected texts without routine stress support, and describe your strengths, difficulties, and goals in organized spoken and written Russian, drawing on the full productive foundation of Volume I.