I. Project Overview

This project presents a collection of curated authentic materials (interviews) that address different professional spheres. Approaches to the interviews are based on ACTFL proficiency benchmarks and address a range of topics, from biographical stories and professional interests to reflections on contemporary topics in science and technology. Interview participants also share their views on the importance of linguistic and cultural competence, and offer their advice to students in different fields. 

Our target audience includes: 

1. Russian language educators at K-12 and College Level
2. Russian language students 
3. Administrators of Russian language programs at K-16 level, administrators of language exchanges, etc. 

II. Website navigation principles:

On this page, you will find ideas for how to use our resources for educational and professional purposes.  Visit the  “Interviews” page to access interviews, quizzes, transcripts, and vocabulary flashcards. Visit the “Flyers” page to access downloadable files for your Russian language courses. Visit the “STARTALK” page to learn more about the STARTALK principles and other projects. 

III. Usage suggestions for different groups:

1. Russian Language Instructors: 

You can use interviews and supplementary pedagogical materials at a variety of levels. 
The interviews can be used for listening comprehension tasks, as they are supplied with subtitles in English and Russian and feature comprehension quizzes (in Russian). 
You can utilize the interview transcripts for reading tasks, and create project-based tasks using specific interviews, or a comparison of several interviews. Please see the For Instructors page for more suggestions.

2. Students of Russian as a Foreign Language: 

Whether you are a beginner student or an advanced learner, the materials featured on this website will help you improve your listening comprehension skills and expand your vocabulary in several professional domains.

We recommend that you start with vocabulary comprehension activities and review vocabulary cards, then watch the interviews and complete interview comprehension quizzes. You can select to watch the interviews with Russian or English subtitles. 

3. Program Administrators: 

Our website materials can be used for program promotion purposes. 
You are welcome to download and customize the flyers for your program or use them as infographics to show professional demand for language study. 
You can also use interviews or interview excerpts that address language and cultural proficiency during your program promotion events.
You are welcome to post links to our website when sharing resources about language study with your students

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are profoundly grateful to all the interview participants for sharing their professional insights and experiences and for finding time in their busy schedules to participate in the interviews:

Professor Alexandra Boldyreva, Georgia Institute of Technology
Professor Alina Chertock, North Carolina State University
Dr. Vyacheslav Gerovitch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Maryna Ivanchenko, Harvard University
Professor Vera Kuklina, The George Washington University
Matthew Kupfer, Voice of America
Professor Michael McFaul, Stanford University
Professor Dmytro Pesin, University of Virginia
Professor Benjamin Rifkin, Provost, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Dr. Simon Saradzhyan, The Belfer Center, Harvard University
Dr. Andrei Shubin, Harvard University

We want to express our deep appreciation for many colleagues whose expertise was instrumental in developing this resource. This project would not be possible without their expert guidance and collaborative spirit:

Flyer Design: Elena Sidorova, Graphic Designer and Freelance Artist, 
<elesida@gmail.com>  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-sidorova-b852982/

Interview videos: MIT Video Productions team, especially Jean Dunoyer, Senior Editor, Producer, and Alex Sachs, Editor.   https://mvp.mit.edu/ 

Website development: Inna Ignatyeva, ProjectPal

Administrative support:  Many dedicated staff members from the Global Languages Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology contributed to this project. Special thanks to Liam Brenner, Paula Cogliano, Joseph Borkowski, Lisa Hickler, Maroua Ouadani, and Zhao Xian

We welcome your feedback and suggestions, please reach out to us: professional.russian@gmailc.om

ABOUT STARTALK

STARTALK Mission:

STARTALK is a federal grant program managed and funded by the National Security Agency. STARTALK grants fund innovative programs with strong language learning outcomes for K-16 students in support of the STARTALK goals. STARTALK grants currently support programs offered in the following critical need languages: Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, and Russian.

STARTALK Goals:

• Increase the number of students enrolled in the study of critical languages
• Increase the number of highly effective critical language teachers in the U.S.
• Increase the number of highly effective materials and curricula available to teachers and students of critical need languages
• Enhance workforce development in the federal government to meet national security needs through the study of critical languages

Our grant:

Our project was sponsored by “STARTALK OUT OF CYCLE ”. 

Source: https://www.startalk.info/about/ (accessed January 29, 2022)

You can learn more about various STARTALK Programs here: https://www.startalk.info/