Business Russian Communication: a new communicative online course at St Petersburg University
The Centre for E-Learning Development at St Petersburg University has launched an online Russian-language course in the fundamentals of business communication on the Coursera platform: Business Russian Communication. The author and developer of the course is Lyudmila Kotane. She is one of the most requested experts in Russian for business and the author of the best-selling textbook ‘Russian for Business’.
The project to develop an online course has been implemented thanks to the close cooperation of two departments of St Petersburg University: the Centre for E-Learning Development; and the Language Testing Centre.
‘At a time when the pandemic has damaged the economy, it is necessary to intensify business contacts and promote their improvement. With this online course, St Petersburg University wants to help entrepreneurs from abroad better understand Russian partners; and as a result, increase the well-being of people around the world,’ said Dmitry Ptyushkin, Acting Director of the Language Testing Centre.
This course will make it possible not only to strengthen partnership relations, but also to establish a mutual understanding between people in general.
Dmitry Ptyushkin, Acting Director of the Language Testing Centre
This intensive course is tailored to those who plan to work in Russia, do business with Russian partners, or study on business-related majors in Russian. It is designed for students who have already achieved A2 level in Russian.
Online course in Business Russian Communication
‘At times, a slight misunderstanding in business negotiations can lead to dire consequences in relations with partners and an unmitigated disaster in business. It is therefore important to know well the language of the country in which you work. You should also be well-informed about the subtleties of the vocabulary in order to keep up a conversation on any topic. When designing online courses, we are always focused on the highest quality of the final product,’ said Vladimir Starostenko, Director of the Centre of E-Learning Development at St Petersburg University.
The Business Russian Communication course is unique. Animated dialogues have been created by our designers specially for this course. They make it possible for students to enjoy learning new language patterns and perfect the techniques of using the studied vocabulary in practice.
Vladimir Starostenko, Director of the Centre of E-Learning Development at St Petersburg University
The content of the online classes includes: the study of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation; animated dialogues showing a wide range of communicative situations; and interviews with representatives of various business areas, offered as extra tasks. Students will learn how to: properly present themselves and their company to business partners and potential clients; talk about their activities; keep up a conversation in a professional or informal setting; and much more. The acquisition of new words and colloquial phrases will make it possible to expand significantly their vocabulary.
This course is the first of four online courses in Business Russian Communication. They study various areas of business communications: introductory meetings and small talk; telephone conversations; business correspondence; company presentations; contracting; and much more. At the end of each course, students consolidate the knowledge they have gained, and prepare a final project involving a mutual skill assessment.
Students will have a rich curriculum. They will not only have to get acquainted with the theory and perform exercises to study and consolidate grammar, but also learn a lot of useful information that they can apply in personal practice.