For students with very little or no previous classroom instruction in Russian. Starting from scratch, with a weekend “survival Russian” course before taking the language pledge, students learn the alphabet and learn to read and understand spoken Russian, learn to write and speak Russian in basic and predictable contexts (ordering a meal in a restaurant, asking directions on the street). Students master the basic grammatical structures of the language and acquire a beginning vocabulary, practiced in weekly compositions. Students completing this course typically have novice high or intermediate low language skills.