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LEVELS OF COMPETENCE IN RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

A1 / BREAKTHROUGH LEVEL (requires 80-120 learning hours from scratch)

You can use simple phrases for basic needs: in a shop, at a post office, in a bank, in a restaurant or café, at a library, in class, in public transport, at the doctor’s. You are able to introduce yourself, tell about your studies and work, hobbies, friends and family, your typical day. Your vocabulary includes 780 lexical units. You are already familiar with all of the 6 cases, know declinations of nouns and basic functions of the cases. You can conjugate verbs, talk about past, present and future, use verbs of motion without prefixes (идти, ходить, ехать, ездить). You understand the idea of verb aspects in Russian, can say numbers, both cardinal and ordinal.

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A2 / WAYSTAGE LEVEL (requires 160-200 learning hours)

You can use Russian for everyday tasks and activities. You can freely communicate, when make purchases in a shop, use the local public transport, discuss the weather with people around, exchange some stock phrases with colleagues and teachers etc. You are able to initiate a dialogue in simple standard situations; maintain the dialogue about yourself, your friends, family, study, job, learning of foreign language, working day, free time, hometown, health or weather. You can decline nouns, adjectives and pronouns, freely use aspects of verbs, verbs of motion with prefixes and etc. The minimum vocabulary should reach 1300 items.

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В1 / THRESHOLD LEVEL (requires 400-480 learning hours)

B1 level of communicative competence enables you to satisfy your main communicative needs in everyday, sociocultural, educational and professional areas of communication. You feel more confident in the country where the foreign language is spoken in most routine situations and can solve a significant number of problems and tasks you encounter in the everyday life. You can decline numerals, use participles, make long complex sentences. The minimum vocabulary should reach 2300 items already.

The first level of competence in Russian as a foreign language is enough to enter Russian education institutions, in particular higher education institutions, i.e. universities, institutes and academies. As a rule, this level is achieved by students who have completed the preparatory programs (faculties or courses) for foreigners after one-year special language training.

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В2 / VANTAGE LEVEL (requires 680-720 learning hours)

B2 level indicates a relatively high level of communicative competence, which enables you to satisfy your main communicative needs in all areas of communication, talking about complicated topics: social issues, politics, economy, art and science, nature and ecological situation, etc. The vocabulary minimum should reach up to more than 5000 words.

The second level of competence in Russian as a foreign language is a prerequisite for receiving bachelor's or master's degrees at the Russian higher education institutions (except for bachelor's or master's degree in philology).

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С1 / EFFECTIVE OPERATIONAL PROFICIENCY

You can express yourself fluently in almost any situation, without the need to search for expressions. You are able to perform complex tasks related to work and study. You can also produce clear, detailed texts on challenging subjects.

You are able to understand and adequately interpret texts related to the sociocultural and official areas of communication and be able to read Russian literature. You are able to maintain a dialogue using various linguistic means to achieve different goals and implement various speaking strategies; act as initiator of the conversation dialogue aimed at resolution of a conflict situation in the process of communication; perform an argumentative monologue on moral issues; promote and give arguments in favor of the own opinion in a free speech situation.

The minimum vocabulary should reach 12 000 items, 7 000 of them in active vocabulary.

This Certificate is a prerequisite for receiving a bachelor's degree in philology at the Russian higher education institutions.

C2 / MASTERY LEVEL

Reaching C2 level indicates proficiency in the Russian language and a competence close to that of native Russian speaker. You use the language with complete mastery. You have the ability to read, speak and write about any type of subject, emotion, or opinion. You are able to differentiate finer shades of meaning from the language even in more complex situations. You can understand and adequately interpret original texts from all subject areas: abstract philosophical, professionally-related, journalistic and literary texts having a hidden or a conceptual meaning. You have a maximum understanding of radio and TV programs, extracts from films, teleplays, radio plays, recorded public speeches etc., perceive sociocultural and emotional peculiarities of the speaker's manner in an adequate way and interpret popular quotations and hidden meaning. You are able to achieve any communication goals in a prepared and non-prepared dialogue conversation, including public communication, showing the ability to implement the speaking strategy typical of the dialogue initiator who seeks to influence the listener.

The minimum vocabulary should reach 20 000 items, 8 000 of them in active vocabulary.